SMARTRAC and MIFARE: Continuing the path of success 14. December 2016
By SMARTRAC TECHNOLOGY GROUP

The news that SMARTRAC is pursuing strategic alternatives for its Secure ID & Transactions Business Division could raise potential questions about the future of NXP’s MIFARE-based products. Fortunately, the answer is quite simple: the success story of SMARTRAC’s MIFARE-based transponders will continue – with even more exciting chapters to be written in future years.

SMARTRAC has not only been leading the RFID industry for over a decade, it has also been one of the largest customers for NXP’s MIFARE ICs. Due to MIFARE’s target applications, most MIFARE ICs purchased by SMARTRAC have been used by its Secure ID & Transactions Business Division (SIT). That will not change.

Heading for future success
In early November 2016, SMARTRAC announced that it had finalized an agreement to sell its Secure ID & Transactions Business Division to the Linxens Group. Today, the acquisition is still subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. Independent of future developments, the highly successful and profitable SMARTRAC Secure ID & Transactions business will face a bright future as a leader in Payment, Access Control, Transportation & Identification technologies for maximum security and customer convenience. At the same time, SMARTRAC’s core business will be able to focus on and accelerate its already successful transition into a leading provider of ready-made and customized RFID products and IoT-based solutions that enable businesses to identify, authenticate, track and complement product offerings.

Targeting the market with MIFARE DESFire-based transponders
SIT’s business with NXP is already set for not just continuity, but accelerated growth, particularly with regard to the MIFARE DESFire EV1 and MIFARE DESFire EV2 IC models. Their security features and proven reliability make them a good fit for a wide range of well-known and novel applications, for instance in hospitality and mobility.

With newly developed and rejuvenated transponders based on MIFARE DESFire, SMARTRAC’s Secure ID & Transactions Business Division will continue to target these markets, aiming at a strong sales uplift for MIFARE DESFire-based transponders in the coming years. SIT will also continue to support NXP’s open platform for secure access credential management for access control and other areas of application.

Continuing the proven Premium Partnership
All that will happen in a close and proven Premium Partnership with NXP in the medium and long term, says Thomas Hitzer, Member of the Division Board of the Secure ID & Transactions Business Division at SMARTRAC: “We have a great collaboration with NXP, and we share the same passion for quality and customer satisfaction. All that will continue to be the case in the future as well. The only thing that might change is that our goals may become even more ambitious!”