World Battle of Platforms

SUMMARY

Operational and Cost Hurdles Restrain Growth of Open Platforms in Mass Transit Applications

While smart cards establish themselves as the default standard for identification and access control, there has been pronounced growth in the adoption of open platforms such as Java Card and multiple operating system (MULTOS). Open platforms are ideally suited for dynamic, secure, multi-application smart card applications and mass transit segment displays the highest potential for such applications. However, operational hurdles restrain open platform implementations in this segment. For example, the addition of payment functionality to transit cards calls for high security features that are absent in the platforms presently in use. However, the inclusion of open platforms to enhance security is also likely to increase the cost of implementation. In addition to cost, the need for reconciliation infrastructure among retailers and card associations, for payment applications also poses additional challenges. Hence, to successfully implement open platform based multi-application systems in the mass transit segment, cost as well as operational hurdles have to be overcome.

This Frost & Sullivan research service provides a global overview of the smart cards platforms and gives an exhaustive comparison of the performances of different types of platforms in different application segments. It further presents market forecasts for open and contactless platforms and lists key trends across the Java Card, MULTOS, Mifare, Felica and native platforms markets.

Open Platform Developers Lower Cost Barriers for Fixed Function Cards

Despite the crucial advances in open platforms, high costs remain a barrier to increasing market adoption. However, the 'Java Card S program' enables card issuers to benefit from the open platform while keeping the costs low. Although the program does not accommodate dynamic downloading capabilities, it does allow for interoperability with full function Java Cards that the issuer may launch at a later stage. The 'Step/one' initiative from the MULTOS consortium is also a step in this direction. "High royalty costs are a key deterrent to the adoption of open platforms among card issuers," says the analyst of this research service. "Organizations that manage them must find ways to sustain their revenues and also increase the return on investment (RoI) of the card issuer."

The Java Card platform has evolved rapidly in recent times and continues to sustain its leadership in the ever-changing smart card market. With a range of mutually interoperable products from Java Card licensees, card issuers benefit from being able to avoid re-writing their applications, even if they were to adopt products with different features, prices, or performance levels.

Move towards Secure Identity Management Could Ensure a Greater Role for Open Platforms

With the increased emphasis on security both at the enterprise and governance levels, identity management is the key challenge for organizations and governments. Open platforms are expected to play an important role in identity management because of their scalability and security features and have to evolve as strong foundations for the credible execution of such applications. While government ID projects -- a huge market for open platform cards, are increasingly moving toward contactless and dual interface cards, the majority of the contactless card market in banking applications remains with native platforms.

"Java Card unit shipments recorded a massive 81.8 percent growth in 2004, making it an outright leader in the world contact smart cards market," says the analyst. "This platform enjoys an absolute dominance in the global system for mobile (GSM) market and also leads the market in the government ID segment."

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• 1. Executive Summary
  • 1. Executive Summary
    • 1. Executive Summary
• 2. Introduction
  • 1. Market Overview
    • 1. Smart Card Platforms
    • 2. Market Forecasts
  • 2. Frost & Sullivan Awards
    • 1. 2005 Frost & Sullivan Market Leadership Award
    • 2. 2005 Frost & Sullivan Customer Value Enhancement Award
• 3. Contact Card Platforms
  • 1. Market Trends
    • 1. Overview
    • 2. Java Card
    • 3. MULTOS
  • 2. Comparative Analysis
    • 1. Analysis By Application
    • 2. SWOT Analysis
• 4. Contactless Card Platforms
  • 1. Market Trends
    • 1. Overview
    • 2. MIFARE
    • 3. FeliCa
  • 2. Comparative Analysis
    • 1. Analysis By Application
    • 2. SWOT Analysis

List Of Figures

• Total Open Platform Market: Unit Shipment Forecasts (World), 2002-2009
• Total Contactless Platform Market: Unit Shipment Forecasts (World), 2002-2009
• Total Java Card Market: Unit Shipment Forecasts (World), 2002-2009
• Total MULTOS Market: Unit Shipment Forecasts (World), 2002-2009
• Java Card Market: SWOT Analysis (World), 2004
• MULTOS Market: SWOT Analysis (World), 2004
• Native Platform Market: SWOT Analysis (World), 2004
• Total Mifare Market: Unit Shipment Forecasts (World), 2002-2009
• Total Felica Market: Unit Shipment Forecasts (World), 2002-200
• Mifare Market: SWOT Analysis (World), 2004
• Felica Market: SWOT Analysis (World), 2004