• Hitachi Develops Next-Generation RFID Tag

    Serkan Toto

    Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

    Friday, May 6th, 2011

    Hitachi subsidiary Hitachi Information Systems has announced [JP] the development of a next-generation RFID tag today. What’s new about it is that the tag withstands the heat of welding: in other words, companies don’t need to drill screw holes anymore to put them into place. Hitachi says that their new tags can be welded into place in just 10 seconds, whereas conventional ones take around 5 minutes to be attached to objects.

    The metal tags are sized at 22mm×24mm×5.3mm and are expected to be used in construction machinery, agricultural machinery and equipment, gas cylinders and similar objects.

    Hitachi plans to start shipping the devices to manufacturers in Japan and China in July. Each tag will cost $6.22, with Hitachi projecting sales to reach up to 1 million units within the next three years.