Remember when everyone predicted RFID in the supply chain would become a reality when the price of a smart label came down to a nickel?

Why doesn't anyone talk about the 5-cent RFID tag today?

“The 5-cent tag was relevant when people were talking about item-level tagging in the retail supply chain,” says Michael Liard of ABI Research. “What happened instead is that asset tracking became a hot spot of activity, as did high end apparel. When you're talking about high end, high volume goods, a nickel price point isn't so important.”

So how much does an RFID tag cost today? If you're looking for a finished smart label for retail compliance, says Liard, they're still 10 to 15 cents.