RFID Update has an article based on an ABI Research that mentions three key trends for RFID in 2006. The complete article can be found here: http://www.rfidupdate.com/articles/?id=1031. The following list summarizes the key trends:
- Continued significance of the US market despite increasing internationalization of RFID
- Key decision-making year for the many label converters figuring out how to position themselves in RFID
- EPCglobal focusing its efforts on the reader and network level
I think the third is particularly interesting as this seems to overextend EPCglobal's mandate as the article describes.
In a previous post I mentioned RFID as a possible chance for manufacturers to take back some control from China, because of their slow adoption. The fact that Europe is being slow to adopt RFID can only help the U.S. manufacturers -- that is, if they act.