Featured Articles

July 2006 – Sun Microsystems Inc. operates RFID Test Centers in the U.S., Singapore and South Korea but chose Japan to locate its only RFID Design Center, which opened in Tokyo in July 2004.

Overseeing the company’s Japan RFID activities is Yuji Uematsu, director of desktop mobility practice of Sun Microsystems Japan.  He spoke with JETRO about Japan’s RFID market, which he expects to reach 100 billion yen with 1 billion tags consumed by 2010. 

It is this potential along with the technology leadership of Japan’s RFID device vendors, Uematsu explains, that led Sun Microsystems to establish its only RFID Design Center in Japan.

MARKET OVERVIEW

Where does RFID technology in Japan stand compared to the United States?

Uematsu:  In the U.S., there are companies such as Wal-Mart that have deployed RFID devices.  In this sense, Japan has been a bit behind because we have not been able to use products within the UHF [ultra high frequency] band. 

However, regulations were eased last year to allow the use of UHF products, so there has been a lot of activity to implement RFID technology within the UHF band.

What trends do you see in the Japanese market, and how are companies responding to them? 

Uematsu:  The main factor inhibiting the spread of RFID technology has been the cost, especially the cost of RFID tags.  However, we will soon be able to use inexpensive RFID tags called Hibiki Tags, which were developed under a Japanese government initiative.  The cost of one tag is approximately $0.05. 

This UHF tag can be used beginning this year.  It conforms to global international standards like EPCglobal, so it can be used overseas.  Over the next two years, this technology will really take off in the Japanese market.