New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.smartcards.frost.com ), Profiles of Local Companies in the Smart Card Value Chain in Selected Asian Countries reveals that the explosive growth of the smart card market in Asia Pacific has resulted in an emerging pool of local vendors. These include silicon vendors, smart card and reader manufacturers, and system integrators. A large proportion of these vendors are serving the regional market effectively, and further driving the growth in the region.

In addition, the increasing use of smart cards in government projects drives market growth. This enables smart card vendors in Asia to reach higher profits. Manufacturers in Asia are fairly protected by the local economic policies that allow them to operate and profit in a relatively sheltered environment. As a result, smart card vendors in Asia are less motivated to invest in R&D and innovative high-end products as compared with their European competitors.

However, since Asian companies in Asia lack brand recognition globally, the competition from international vendors is proving to be a credible threat, forcing them to invest more in upgrading their R&D facilities and delivering more high-end products.

Further, expansions in mobile communications, contactless payments as well as the mass deployment of Europay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV) in the Chinese and other Asian markets are likely to help Asian smart card manufacturers and integrators garner significant revenues.

Profiles of Local Companies in the Smart Card Value Chain in Selected Asian Countries is part of the Smart Card Growth Partnership Service, which also includes research in the following: world smart card market, world smart card IC market and world contactless smart card market. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are available.