An article this week from the local US business press should be a sharp reminder that behind all the discussions about the technology, the business plans, the potential supply chain efficiencies and improved asset tracking, RFID is still a business, and businesses backing their future on supporting RFID implementations still need to make money.
The Denver Business Journal story might imply that companies going down the RFID path will choose the familiar giants - IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, Motorola etc who are now offering RFID - over smaller pioneers or RFID specialists (indeed the giants may have bought up the smaller pioneers as a fast-track into RFID) because users know those giants will still be around. No-one wants to bet their RFID implementation on a smaller company whose fortunes may hit the buffers.
It is perhaps no surprise then, that two of those larger companies, HP and Motorola, are members of a consortium that is getting together to pool RFID patents in Ultra High Frequency (UHF) RFID.
What is interesting is that a company first mooted in August 2005 can take 27 months to become a reality. Now that's what I call glacial progress!
