IDC: RFID growth not as good as expected

Radio frequency identification (RFID) will also see slower growth than previously expected, IDC says. The firm says while there will be a lot of vendor investment in RFID technologies, that effort will be mismatched with customer spending. IDC says the technology could potentially in the long term revolutionize retail technology, but concerns over tag reliability, signal interference and a lack of standards will hinder big growth in 2004. For example, IDC says Wal-Mart, a leader in RFID adoption, plans to have only 4% of RFID readers in its distribution and retails centers by January 2005. Others in the retail market will follow that lead.