Frost & Sullivan Releases New Analysis in Smart Cards Sector.

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- New analysis from Frost & Sullivan's Smart Cards division (http://www.smartcards.frost.com) regarding the World Smart Card IC Market and the Battle of Platforms is now available. For full details please contact Julia Paulson, North American Corporate Communications.

Differentiation is Key in the Smart Card IC Market

Manufacturers of smart card ICs are focusing on offering increasingly advanced ICs. To differentiate themselves from competitors, smart card IC manufacturers will have to focus on vital competitive parameters of price, technology performance, and time-to-market. Research and development investment toward improved chips is also needed, which proves to be difficult in a shrinking profit margin environment.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (www.SmartCards.frost.com), World Smart Card IC Market, reveals that this market generated revenue totaling $1.40 billion in 2003. Total market revenue is expected to reach $2.38 billion in 2007.

Global system for mobile communications (GSM) penetration of less saturated markets in Asia and the Americas is rising, and telecom operators are promoting higher-memory SIM cards to provide value-added services. Increasing demand for high-memory 64k and 128k SIM cards as well as for Java cards in particular are improving the GSM product mix.

"The arrival of 3G and 2.5G services is boosting high-end smart card IC chip sales since they require larger memory capacity to store new features and bigger files," says Industry Analyst Anoop Ubhey.

World Smart Card IC Market, part of the Global Smart Card Subscription, offers insights into the global markets for ICs. The study offers key market drivers and restraints, in-depth market analysis, competitive analysis, and strategies employed by participants in the memory and microcontroller smart card ICs market. It covers detailed market shares across geographic regions including Americas, Europe Middle East Africa, and Asia Pacific. Executive summaries and interviews are available to the press.

If you are interested in an analysis overview which provide manufacturers, end-users and other industry participants an overview, summary, challenges and latest coverage of the World Smart Card IC Market - then send an email to Julia Paulson - North American Corporate Communications at [e-mail] with the following information: Full name, Company Name, Title, Contact Tel Number, Contact Fax Number, Email. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be emailed to you.

To view the entire press release for the World Smart Card IC Market, click here:

http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/press-release.pag?docid=20767860

Multi-Application Smart Card Developers Must Convince Card Issuers of Product Viability to Spur Uptake 

Card issuers' misgiving about uncertain return on investment on multi-application smart cards is one of the primary barriers to its greater deployment. To build demand, smart card manufacturers and open platform consortiums need to establish a viable business case for multi-application cards.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (www.smartcards.frost.com), Battle of Platforms, reveals that this market generated unit shipment of 220 million for JavaCard and 8.3 million for MULTOS in 2003. Total market unit shipment is expected to reach 867 million and 46.8 million for JavaCard and MULTOS, respectively, in 2008.

The relative high costs of open platform applications over native platform products continue to be a major deterrent to their acceptance. While open platforms are ideal for smart card applications that feature dynamic downloadable capability, they are at the wrong end of the price spectrum for end users who prefer less expensive, low-functionality solutions.

"With the introduction of the 'JavaCard S' program and MULTOS 'step/one,' the cost restraint of application development in open platforms has been alleviated to some extent," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Karthik Nagarajan. "End users can now use JavaCard and MULTOS platforms for single/fixed function card applications, which will also be interoperable with multi-application cards that an organization might launch later."

Battle of Platforms, a part of the Smart Card Subscription, compares the various trends and opportunities in the smart card platforms market. The research has segmented the smart card platform market into native and open platforms. It provides the market and technology trends in both segments and analyzes the most prominent applications for these platforms. Interviews and executive summaries are available to the press.

If you are interested in an analysis overview which provide manufacturers, end-users and other industry participants an overview, summary, challenges and latest coverage of the Battle of Platforms - then send an email to Julia Paulson - North American Corporate Communications at [e-mail] with the following information: Full name, Company Name, Title, Contact Tel Number, Contact Fax Number, Email. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be emailed to you.

To view the entire press release for the Battle of Platforms, click here:

http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/press-release.pag?docid=20016185

Frost & Sullivan, an international growth consultancy, has been supporting clients' expansion for more than four decades. Our market expertise covers a broad spectrum of industries, while our portfolio of advisory competencies includes custom strategic consulting, market intelligence, and management training. Our mission is to forge partnerships with our clients' management teams to deliver market insights, create value, and drive growth through innovative approaches. Frost & Sullivan's network of consultants, industry experts, corporate trainers, and support staff spans the globe with offices in every major country.

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