))) Texas Instruments’Reaches 300 Million RFID Transponder Milestone; Opens New Manufacturing Line Doubling Tag-it Smart Label Inlay Capacity

))) CHICAGO, IL (September 16, 2003)

Texas Instruments RFid Systems today announced it has reached a manufacturing milestone in radio frequency identification (RFID) with the production of its 300 millionth transponder. The company also opened its new Tag-it™ manufacturing line in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which doubles its 13.56 MHz smart label RFID inlay manufacturing capacity. The line allows Texas Instruments additional flexibility in producing a variety of new high-frequency smart label shapes and sizes, including 22 mm and 24 mm circular inlays for textile rental, dry cleaning and product authentication applications as well as wider inlays (10 cm x 15 cm) for supply chain and logistics tracking applications requiring a read range of more than 1 meter (3.28 feet).

TI’s 13.56 MHz Tag-it smart label inlays consist of an integrated circuit and an etched aluminum antenna bonded together using anisotropic conductive film. Finished inlays are produced using a PET substrate base material and are delivered in reels. The new line features eight in parallel manufacturing of reels, which allows for higher throughput. Flexible indexing or pitch gives Texas Instruments the ability to produce smaller inlays at a lower cost based on customer requirements. Tag-it smart label inlays are designed to be easily incorporated into a number of form factors, including labels, tags, plastic cards and keyfobs, and are used in access control, document tracking, product authentication, retail, supply chain, ticketing and wireless commerce applications.

“When we entered this market several years ago, a million tags was a big number,” said Tony Sabetti, worldwide business unit manager,
TI-RFid™ Systems. “With industry and consumers using RFID for everything from pallet tracking to wireless payment, we are seeing a rapidly increasing demand for tags and expect our next 100 million milestone is just around the corner.”