Frost: US$ 1.9 billion smart card market in 2009

Contactless smart cards unit shipment is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.4% from 590 million in 2009 to 1.9 billion units by 2016. Worth US$ 775 million (EUR 600 million) last year, this market is expected to generate revenues at just over US$ 2 billion (EUR 1.5 billion) by the end of 2016 at a CAGR of 13%.Frost and Sullivan anticipates that, in Asia Pacific, large-scale mobile NFC deployments will take place in the next one to two years. NFC on mobile devices will also prompt renewed interest in contactless bank credit and debit cards with security issues having been ironed out.

With the United States, European Union and over 80 countries adopting the e-passport system, the analyst expects demand for contactless cards and similar government identification (ID) applications in Asia to continue.

India, China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam are all slated to implement e-passports within the next five years, according to Frost & Sullivan. The demand will continue to surge as such passports are renewed every five to 10 years, the research firm added. Mass transit ticketing is the second biggest application for contactless cards--accounting for 28% of contactless card shipment in 2009, after government ID, and uptake will continue with the rise of mass transit projects across Asia-Pacific.