RFID and the Hype Cycle

Filed in archive RFID Basics on March 10, 2004

Via an article in Line 56 comes word of a new report from consultancy A. T. Kearney, urging firms to focus on the benefits to be derived from RFID. For instance, companies should concentrate on building the information systems that will do something with the data collected by using RFID.

The A.T. Kearney report points out that RFID will likely go through a "hype cycle" until companies come to understand and leverage the benefits of it. "Hype cycle" is a term coined by Gartner to describe the boom, bust and subsequent stabilization phases that new technologies go through:

"They first climb a steep "hype" curve, as pundits describe the benefits and paradigm-shifting characteristics of the technology. Next, they plummet into a "trough of disillusionment" as inflated expectations get pushed aside by the reality of performance. Finally, as the benefits are better understood and realized, mature and stable offerings emerge. *** The best example is the boom and bust of the e-commerce revolution and the subsequent stabilization of industry players such as Amazon and eBay."