Global shipments of ePassports will rise to 175 million units in 2019, up from 113 million in 2013. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.6% during the six-year period.
The research firm says while expansion may appear to be strong, it actually amounts to the slowest growth for any segment of the worldwide government electronic identification (ID) market.
In comparison, shipments of electronic identification for use as drivers’ licenses, healthcare cards and national ID credentials are expected to enjoy double-digit CAGRs from 2013 through 2019. Shipments of ePassports will rise at only half the rate of the fastest-growing form of electronic government identification: national IDs.
“Programmes using ePassports face a host of challenges, including government legislation, country risk, political opposition and economic concerns,” says Wincey Tang, digital ID & IT security analyst at IHS. “This multitude of obstacles is slowing the growth of ePassports compared to other electronic ID systems. The major question is whether the need for improved border security will ever be strong enough to overcome the challenges created by these barriers.”
Some countries have embraced ePassport technology more enthusiastically than others. In Australia, for example, IHS is predicting the majority of passports will contain an embedded microcontroller by the end of 2015. Moreover, countries such as Austria, Denmark, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines and Hong Kong—to name a few—are also mature ePassport markets.
On the other hand, some markets historically have experienced more political unrest, which has resulted in interruptions to the deployment of ePassports.
Overall, Asia-Pacific region accounted for the highest number of ePassport shipments in 2013, at 40% of the global market. This was closely followed by Europe with 32%. The smallest region was the Middle East and Africa, estimated to have taken only 8% of global ePassport shipments in the same year.
IHS says it is also important to note that shipments mainly represent the issuance of new credentials—either brand-new or a replacement. Therefore, the top five listed countries with the highest number of shipment volumes in 2013 are areas where the ePassport market is growing fastest; or they represent areas where the programme is either relatively new or has experienced additional initiatives.
“This means that countries with mature schemes are often ranked higher in terms of the installed base, which counts the number of credentials in use, and will not appear in the top list for the latest shipments.
“Nonetheless, it appears that security-related fears could become a driving force in encouraging volumes, and that government-controlled plans will remain the pivotal influencer in most ePassport programmes.
The IHS data is derived from its ‘eGovernment and Healthcare ID Cards 2014’ from its Digital ID & IT Security Service.
---
Quelle/Source: Security Document World, 19.08.2014
Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit:
