ABI: Leading Wi-Fi RTLS Vendors Say Vertical Markets Advantageous for Growth

December 8, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS

"Although manufacturing will lead the vertical market for active RFID [radio frequency identification] product sales, health care will continue to dominate vertical sales for Wi-Fi RTLS," said ABI Research Vice President and Research Director Stan Schatt.

"Not all manufacturing environments lend themselves to Wi-Fi transmission, but health care was an enthusiastic early adopter of Wi-Fi applications, including voice over Wi-Fi [VoWi-Fi]. And revenue generated from health care purchases of Wi-Fi RTLS products will grow to over $264 million by 2012," he said.

Even though some manufacturing environments will not deploy Wi-Fi, new manufacturing market segments are growing, including pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

According to ABI Research, Wi-Fi RTLS revenue generated from manufacturing customers will grow to more than $136 million by 2012.

Wi-Fi RTLS vendors also use a return on investment (ROI) argument to sell systems. Analysts said this argument works much more effectively when expensive equipment is being tracked by salaried employees.

In a hospital, for example, these vendors point to costly medical equipment and the fact that employees need to track it, usually by leaving their desks and moving from area to area in search of it. If the hourly rate is multiplied by the amount of time spent tracking down such devices, the ROI becomes apparent.

"Wi-Fi RTLS equipment vendors have chosen a vertical market strategy," Schatt said. "While many of the outdoor-oriented verticals associated with proprietary RTLS are not adequately addressed by Wi-Fi RTLS equipment because of accuracy and range limitations, there are some definite sweet spots on which they are focusing their efforts."

Source: ABI Research.