RFID Name of Author : Sachin Hegde and Kaustubh Patankar Batch : MIM 09-12 Roll No : 18 and 34 Basic Statistics

of the sub-sector : Motorola Solutions, though a market leader, volatile markets have caused the revenues to remain extremely unsteady. The revenues for the last 3 years is as follows, (all figures in millions of dollars)
Year Earnings (Loss) 2010 633 2009 (51) 2008 (4,244)

Although the company is not quantifying the growth, it is expecting that the growth pattern should be same in 2010-2011 as that of 20092010, which was about 19% if not more. Key Players for the same sector include Cisco, EADS and Honeywell to name a few.
Year / Earnings (Loss) Cisco EADS Honeywell 2010 780 572 183 2009 610 (752) 189 2008 810 1,597 230

Again, like Motorola, although the key players are confident about growth in the coming years, none of them have quantified these projections. Analysis of the Industry Structure Porters Framework : Key Key Potential Competitors and their Supplier Customer substitutes key strengths and s Categories/ weaknesses and the Customers extent of competitiveness Motorol US To a smaller Cisco, EADS, Honeywell a Government, extent, barcode are some of the Solution Healthcare, scanning and competitors for Motorola s Hospitality, Wi-Fi Real Time with Cisco being primarily Location Systems Manufacturin the biggest competitor. g, Retail, Cisco through its sheer Petrochemica size outmatches Motorola ls, etc. however the size can also cause it to lose track of the RFID market.

Key Issues and Challenges facing this subsector Since RFID is a highly technological area, the key challenge that these Industries face mainly in emerging markets include creation of demand for their products and the negative impact of changes of laws, or interpretation of laws in these countries. Also there is high dependability on worldwide suppliers and hence global forces at times cause a great shortage of the same. Key opportunities and strengths for this subsector This particular sector is highly competitive and requires constant changes in technology. The only way that a particular industry of this sector can have a competitive advantage is by constantly doing research and development (R&D) programs for the development of new products, and on its production engineering capabilities for the improvement of existing products. Thus in case of Motorola, their commitment to R&D programs allow its continuing Enterprise Mobility Solutions segment to remain competitive. Your personal Analysis and Comments : Although the technology of RFID has been present since World War II, it is still in a quite nascent state. Though it is quite widely used, from tracking assets to tagging animals, there are quite a many applications of this technology which are still being explored. Irrespective of the current standings, the real market leader of this technology would be that company which is able to do continuous R&D and be as less dependent on suppliers as possible. There is quite a large uncharted territory for this technology. Reference/Bibliography : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification http://www.motorolasolutions.com/US-EN/Home http://www.kabelbar.net/rfid_industry.php