ContactlessNews | Eurosmart: Industry ships more than 5 billion units

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Eurosmart confirmed that the industry will pass the 5 billion microcontroller based Smart Secure Devices this year. Some 4.5 billion units of Smart Secure Devices were shipped in 2009, and the group anticipate that number to grow by 18% in 2010 to exceed 5.3 billion units.

More than 4 billion SIM cards have been shipped in 2010 and more than 1 billion payment cards are expected in 2011. The proportion of contactless cards is growing, especially dual card combining both contact and contactless.

In addition to the traditional Smart Secure Devices market, new possibilities have started to materialize in 2010. For instance, with the growth in Machine to Machine, embedded mobile connectivity, or near field communication, is delivering benefits to consumers and businesses.

The following are the major growth drivers per segment:

Telecom

SIM shipments benefit from growth in China, India, Indonesia and Brazil, with 3G in India being a driver for larger memory size
Mobile financial services to increase security needs and demand for higher end products
M2M and embedded mobile connectivity generate great interest

Banking-Retail

Worldwide EMV and DDA migration benefit from strong growth in Latin America and Asia
Strong dual contact and contactless cards growth

Government ID-Health care

Increasing deployment of eID cards and the European Resident Permit
European initiatives drive provision of e-Services for citizens’ convenience and administration savings, requiring secure identification
USA visa waiver program and European Union directive on biometrics e-Passport increase penetration of high-end security technology

Contactless Smart Secure Device

Growth of dual (contact and contactless) is higher than pure contactless
20% of Banking-Retail cards have contactless interface in 2010, 22% in 2011
Emergence of microcontroller based cards combining transit and a second application

Report: Smart card market sets to reach 10.9 billion by 2015

Global Industry Analysts Inc. released a report forecasting the outlook on the global smart card market to reach 10.9 billion units by 2015.

GIA credits the growth driven largely by major initiatives in the financial, government and security sectors, with the telecom sector at the way ahead of the pack as the largest end-user. Increasing usage of contactless technology, newer applications and mandatory EMV migration across countries are also major drivers boosting the global market for smart cards.

Albron inks deal to accept biometric and contactless payments

Albron, an independent caterer in the Netherlands, will offer biometric- and contactless-based payments in its restaurants thanks to a newly signed agreement with pan-European payment processor Equens.

Identive's tomPAY sticker turns any mobile phone into a contactless payment device

Identive Group announced tomPAY, an NFC-enabled sticker tag that can be affixed to existing mobile phones to enable contactless payments.

Based on Identive’s tom (tag on metal) smart inlay technology, tomPAY is manufactured using the same processes as an ISO PVC card. When placed on a phone, tomPAY enables contactless mobile payments in compliance with MasterCard PayPass specifications, as well as loyalty, transport ticketing and other m-commerce services.

OTI to deliver 30,000 NFC readers in the U.S.

On Track Innovations (OTI) has received an order for 30,000 of its NFC and contactless payment readers for deployment in the U.S.

OTI did not reveal who will receive the readers, but assured that the devices would be used to support the migration towards contactless payments and NFC in the U.S.

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