Tampere, July 7, 2009 − Confidex, a leading manufacturer of passive RFID tags, including specialty UHF tags and labels as well as HF tickets, was ranked first in ABI’s vendor matrix for specialty passive UHF RFID tags in harsh or challenging environments. The vendor matrix by ABI Research, an analytical tool for understanding of vendors’ position in specific markets, assessed vendors on the important parameters of innovation and implementation across several criteria, unique to each vendor matrix.
Read the ABI excerpt

“Confidex excels at product innovation and R&D. The company boasts a strong combination of RFID tag design competence, RF engineering, customization, and manufacturing experience. This strong innovation is complemented by the company’s expanding implementation capabilities” states Michael Liard, Practice Director for RFID at ABI Research.

“Over the last few years Confidex has focused on aggressive expansion within the specialty passive UHF tag market. In that short timeframe Confidex has become a formidable player in the passive UHF specialty tag market,” adds Liard.

ABI Research pointed to high performance and quality as key competitive differentiators for Confidex. The company also excelled in the ability for significant customization and R&D capabilities. In addition to these strengths other factors helped Confidex secure the top ranking. These included an in-house tag manufacturing plant that ensures control over processes and quality as well as experienced well-respected management and engineering teams. A broad RFID tag portfolio offering more than a dozen passive UHF tag was a significant factor too.

“We are proud that Confidex specialty tag product offering is now recognized as the clear market leader driving innovativeness and implementation in specialty RFID tags for challenging environments,” said Timo Lindström, CEO for Confidex. “This ranking is another validation of the strategy Confidex is committed to. We will do our utmost to maintain and expand our leading position in providing RFID tag solutions that make supply chains, transactions and authentication of goods and people more efficient and secure.”

Confidex has received several honours and awards for its outstanding expertise and innovativeness in RFID industry over the past year. Most recently, Red Herring named Confidex a winner on its Europe TOP 100 list and finalist on its global 200 list in 2008. Furthermore, Frost & Sullivan gave Confidex the RFID Technology Innovation Award for 2008 for its contactless ticket, commonly known as the ‘Limited Use Ticket’, which has been successfully deployed in the transportation industry.

Confidex offers a complete range of industry standard compliant products from special labels to durable hard tags for harsh conditions. The company has found significant success in solving specific application challenges, particularly in metallic environments. For example, SteelWING, a metal-friendly C1G2 label, uses the surrounding metal as an antenna, actually improving performance. Confidex Ironside, a hard tag among the most durable, on-metal, high temperature resistant Gen2 tags available to date, has been successfully used to tracking assets from steel pallets to train wagons and maintenance, repair and overhaul applications.

The Confidex Label portfolio offers a full line of passive UHF specialty labels which are optimized for harsh environments such as high heat and specific material such as wood, plastic, and rubber/tires. Confidex also offers contactless RFID tickets for public transport.

Currently, Confidex has a strong installed base of customers through out the globe representing a broad range of industries including The London Underground, Swiss Post and Correos in Spain, the Austrian motorway company Asfinag as well as New Belgium Brewery and Scott Air Force Base Medical Center in the USA. More than 100 partners around the world provide RFID applications with Confidex’s top performing RFID tag and ticket solutions.

In the vendor matrix, under innovation, ABI Research examined specialty tag product offering mix, physical specifications – product feature sets, scope of materials/surfaces addressed, tag design innovation/strength of engineering and customization capabilities as well as new application enablement. Under implementation, the following criteria were scrutinized: manufacturing capabilities and strategy, overall market position, leadership, strength & experience, installed base/customer deployments, breadth of verticals and applications targeted/served, strength within verticals and applications targeted/served, partner strategy and approach, scope of distribution channels as well as sales strategy and approach.

For more information on the ranking and the excerpt from ABI, please visit www.confidex.net

For further information, please contact:
Mr. Timo Lindström, CEO, Confidex, tel. +358 (0)40 525 3114, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Mr. Torbjörn Andersson, Vice President, Sales & Business Development, tel. +46 768 5310 130, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

ABI Research
ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of emerging trends in global connectivity. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advise thousands of decision makers through research and advisory services in seven key practice areas. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1 516 624 2500.

About Confidex
Confidex, headquartered in Tampere, Finland, is a fast growing company with unique expertise in RFID design, manufacturing and system engineering. With offices in Europe, North America and China, Confidex provides high-performing, industry-standard RFID tags for demanding applications. The company’s highly experienced team has enabled Confidex to quickly become the trusted partner for major vendors and end-users in the RFID industry. Confidex's core competencies and experience span HF (high frequency) and UHF (ultra high frequency) antenna design, tag manufacturing, and advanced tag conversion and encapsulation. For more information visit www.confidex.net.