High-Capacity SIM Cards Make Headway in Asia Pacific Region

While they haven’t really caught on in the U.S., subscriber identity module (SIM) cards are big in the in the Asia Pacific market. Over the years, these applications have grown from simple memory payphone cards to more advanced microprocessor-based SIM cards, which has contributed to the continued growth of the market. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan’s SIM Card Market in Selected APAC Countries, reveals that the market is expected to grow from 660 million units in 2005 to more than 1 billion in 2010. Currently, 16K-64K cards account for the bulk of the Asia Pacific SIM market, but with the increasing popularity of high-end cards, 16K cards could get completely phased out in the next one to four years. 64K cards are likely to become more or less the size of SIM in some of the major Asia Pacific countries. Cards with 128 K memory are likely to experience the strongest growth over the next three to four years. Although high-capacity SIMs are considered secure and in theory, cost effective, the lack of sufficient content and applications could make them an expensive proposition and deter mobile operators from upgrading to them. However, the market is currently witnessing fierce price competition, leading to falling SIM prices, particularly for low-end cards. This has resulted in significant revenue loss for many market participants and could eat into companies’ reserve funds for further R&D and innovation, as well as affect the quality and security of the cards. This is likely to pose a major challenge to SIM card manufacturers.