US-based printed electronics firm Kovio intends to open a manufacturing plant to produce printed RFID at the end of August.
According to reports on MercuryNews.com, Kovio plans to especially target its tags at the smart packaging applications in the consumer goods market. The company aims to design tags that can be scanned by a consumer's mobile phone to access nutritional and product origin data.
Kovio CEO Amir Mashkoori sees printed semiconductors eventually becoming a multibillion-dollar business. He says: 'The consumer could tell how old merchandise is, for example, or if it contains something the person is allergic to.'
By using silicon-based ink, the company says it can print RFID tags on soup cans, textiles and a wide range of other surfaces - though the biggest selling point is their cost. Mashkoori claims Kovio should be able to produce them for about $0.5 - making them appealing to a broad assortment of businesses.