Holger Winterhalter Head of Line Management Global Responsibility for contact based technology, i.e. Controller, Memories	Gaby Mönig Line Manager Global Responsibility for contactless technology, i.e. RFID Memories, ReaderIC

We work very close with our suppliers in order to have the newest products in AdvanIDe’s portfolio. Additionally, we get a better understanding of the market and spread this information to our sales and customers, especially on products, trends, tenders / RFQs etc. Furthermore, we take care that our FAEs always get the right training from our suppliers in order to support you - as customer - on the latest technical standards. Distribution doesn’t mean “box shifting” at all. Distribution means also dealing with information’s and services. As an ID focused distributor, we see this as a “must” to provide our customers with dedicated information and service, especially on such fast moving markets like e-gov, banking and identification.

Market trend in Identification and Smart Card industry:

Overall, we observed a movement to identification products offering higher security. This means a development shift from simple memory applications with eventually read and/or right protection to secured crypto-controller solutions with open asynchronous algorithms and PKI. A very good example of this is the migration from MIFARE Classic 1k to MIFARE PLUS with AES cryptography, as explained in the article earlier.
The smart card industry has been continuously expanding with countries across the globe, identifying its true potential. The number of Smart card application projects has also been rising, demonstrating the versatility and robustness of the technology. The growing security needs, possible multiple usage and greater storage & processing capability are driving the growth of smart card industry world over and will also continue to do so in the future. The global shipment of smart cards surpassed an estimated 5 billion units in 2008 and this figure is projected to surge by nearly 12% through 2012.
The telecom sector is the biggest application market for smart cards, occupying more than 70% of the global smart card shipment in 2008. Growing number of mobile subscribers remain the largest contributor, driving sales of SIM cards worldwide. Use of smart cards in financial services sector has also been on rise buoyed by increasing use of Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) standards. Increasing use of internet for making online payment transactions is also fueling growth in the global smart card industry as this technology enables consumers make secure and reliable transactions. Use of contactless smart cards in this regard has gained remarkable consideration and is forecasted to grow more than 30% through 2012. Besides this, the mass / rapid transport sector will experience the largest growth in usage of smart cards worldwide, nearly 25% in near future.


Back