While a Frost & Sullivan study warns of uneven market conditions in the Asia Pacific smart card market, countries with a strong contactless infrastructure already in place shouldn’t see a significant decline in smart card production. In fact, according to the report, some countries in the region, such as Japan and South Korea, have continued to expand and add new projects, particularly in the mobile payments area.
However, those countries that have not yet achieved mass deployment of contactless smart cards could experience further delays, according to the company’s Asia Pacific Contactless Smart Card Market report. The Asia Pacific market earned revenues of $769.4 million in 2008 and Frost & Sullivan estimates this to reach $1.4 billion by 2014.
Ongoing projects, such as e-passports and mass transit ticketing, will continue and applications will expand to include contactless and mobile payments, the report adds. Other contactless applications that will insulate the market from the downturn are upgrades and replacement cards.
Despite this positive outlook, market participants must be prepared for a lower volume and revenue growth rate, particularly as some new projects in entertainment, tourism, travel or access control could be delayed or shelved. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/contactlessnews-4.gif)
