25th May 2007 - Wi-Fi Tag Market To Grow 100%

Wi-Fi Tag Market to Grow 100% Per Year Through 2010

Research firm In-Stat has released the 2007 update to its annual report on the market for Wi-Fi-based real-time location systems (RTLS) of the sort used to track medical assets in hospitals, heavy equipment in mines, and parcels for express delivery services. Wi-Fi-based RTLS, as compared to RTLS based on other technologies, has the advantage of being deployable using an enterprise's existing Wi-Fi infrastructure; other RTLS technologies typically require an enterprise to deploy entirely new infrastructure in addition to the tags themselves.

One of the key findings from In-Stat's research is that Wi-Fi RTLS tag shipments hit 135,000 last year. That figure represents an explosion of demand over 2005, when tag shipments reached only 20,000. Very strong growth in tag shipments is projected to continue through 2010; In-Stat predicts a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 100%. While not as explosive as the almost 700% growth seen from 2005 to 2006, a three-year 100% CAGR is enviable indeed. In-Stat also noted that the unit price of Wi-Fi tags has decreased from about $50 to $45. The average unit price is expected to decrease further this year, to $30.