Report: Smart card shipments to reach 12 billion units by 2020

According to a new report from IHS, the total market for smart cards is forecast to grow from an estimated 8.8 billion shipped in 2015 to almost 11.9 billion in 2020, despite the fact that the SIM card market is expected to remain relatively flat over the next five years.

In a research note, Don Tait, senior analyst for IHS Technology, said vertical markets leading growth over the next five years will include payment and banking, e-government and healthcare and transportation.

Tait added that multi-application cards and mobile devices are projected to drive growth in these aforementioned markets and that there is still good growth potential in payment and banking cards and in e-government sectors, despite the trend toward multi-application credentials, which could have a detrimental impact on the demand for smart cards.

Within this increasingly connected world, the demand for securing interactions is paramount, Tait said, and smart card suppliers still have a key role to play in this ever-converging world. Industrial, automotive, power generation and distribution are just some of the applications that now require security. Customers in these markets need easy-to-implement security solutions that seamlessly integrate their current applications, systems and processes.

Secure form factors will evolve and become more diverse, which will present challenges to companies competing and potentially entering the smart credential market, according to Tait. One of the key objectives for suppliers is to offer secure and ubiquitous mobility solutions to people and devices, with a focus on convenience customer experience and optimizing costs.