The Shipment of CPU Cards Will Reach 4.205 Billion by the End of 2008 - Read More Inside the Report China IC Card and Smart Card Industry Report, 2007-2008

DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9d50a5/china_ic_card_and) has announced the addition of the "China IC Card and Smart Card Industry Report, 2007-2008 (Second Edition)" report to their offering.

This report makes an indepth analysis and forecast of the Chinese IC card market, with a focus on the six key global IC chip suppliers, and nearly 50 manufacturers in China involved in manufacturing IC card chips, COS, card packaging and IC card devices. The global SIM card shipment market has reached 2.6 billion cards in 2007, up 27% annually with the overall percentage of 3G SIM cards being 14%. According to SIM Alliance, the market scale of SIM cards will break 3 billion by the end of 2008, considering the great demand from mobile operators in developing countries. For example, China Mobile, the largest global telecoms operator, had ordered more than 280 million cards in the first three quarters of 2007, rising 60% in comparison to the same period in 2006. In total, the shipment of mobile phone cards reached 650 million in China in 2007. The Indian market also enjoyed a dramatic growth: its mobile phone card shipment had increased to 194 million cards in 2007 from 123 million cards in 2006, rising 58% annually; Latin America, the Middle East and Africa also achieved large market growths in 2007.

From the figure above, it can be seen that the total IC card shipment market sustains its growth. Meanwhile, the shipment ratio of CPU cards increased also, however, the memory card shipment has declined. The growth of memory card shipments in 2006 and 2007 was mainly attributed to second generation ID card projects and bus card projects in China: about 300 million ID cards and 30 million bus cards were issued respectively during this period. According to Eurosmart, the shipment of CPU cards will reach 4.205 billion by the end of 2008.

According to the China Information Industry Trade Association, IC card shipments in China totalled 1.08 billion cards in 2005, up 91.8% annually; and the shipment value increased 11.1% to RMB 5.607 billion. In 2006, the shipment was 1.676 billion cards, rising 55.2% year-on-year; and the shipment value rose 32.4% to RMB 7.426 billion. The shipment reached 1.993 billion cards in 2007, ascending to 19% in comparison with 2006; and the shipment value was RMB 8.165 billion which only increased by 9%, which was mainly due to the price drop, especially the dramatic price drop of SIM cards.

Based on information from the China Information Industry Trade Association, by the method of time series and by taking factors such as the second generation ID card project, the EMV transfer project of bank cards and the 2008 Olympic Games into account, this report estimates that IC card shipments in China will reach 2.02 billion cards by the end of 2008, and the shipment value will reach RMB 9.21 billion.

In 2007, Infieon had the best sales performance in the global IC card chip market, followed by NXP, Samsung, Atmel, Renesas and ST Microelectronics. In total these companies had 92.1% of the global IC card chip market shares.

During 2007-2008, the development of China's IC card market is due to enhanced applications in traditional sectors as well as the continual development of new applications. In addition, the application system market has entered a new updating period (such as social insurance CPU card and non-contact CPU card).

Some of the Companies mentioned:

- Infineon

- Samsung

- Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics Co., Ltd

- Shanghai Huahong NEC Electronics Co., Ltd

- Shanghai Huahong Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd

- Beijing Huahong Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd

- Gemplus Goldpac Group Co., Ltd

- Jingking Wader Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd

- Beijing Aviation Zhitong Technology Co., Ltd

- Shanghai Solaic IC Card Co., Ltd

- Shanghai Feilo Acoustics Co., Ltd

- Shanghai Changfeng Smart Card Co., Ltd

- Zhuhai Eastcom Peace Smart Card Co., Ltd

- Aerospace Information Co., Ltd

- Eternal Group

- Shanghai Eternal Information Technology Co., Ltd

- Shanghai Eternal Printing Co., Ltd

- Zhenzhou Wanguang Smart Card Technology Co., Ltd

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9d50a5/china_ic_card_and