The RFID Industry: NXP, Impinj, Avery Dennison & Others Compared

The RFID value chain: who does what

When a buyer asks for "RFID labels", they rarely think about how many companies were involved in making one. In reality, a typical passive RFID label is the product of a layered industry, and understanding those layers helps you ask better questions, compare quotes fairly and avoid surprises on lead time or performance.

• Chip (IC) makers design the tiny integrated circuit that stores the ID and handles the radio protocol. They sell chips by the wafer or reel, mostly to inlay makers.
• Inlay makers design antennas (usually etched aluminium on PET film), attach the chip, and test each inlay. The result is a "dry" inlay (no adhesive) or "wet" inlay (with adhesive).
• Label and tag converters turn inlays into finished products: paper or synthetic labels, hang tags, care labels, wristbands, cards, on-metal and hard tags. Many also pre-encode and print.
• Printer and reader makers build the hardware that encodes, prints and reads tags.
• Software vendors and integrators provide middleware, applications and integration with ERP, WMS or retail systems, and handle installation.
• End users - retailers, manufacturers, hospitals, libraries, logistics firms - deploy the system.

Some large companies operate in more than one layer, which is part of why the industry can be confusing. For a refresher on how chip, antenna and inlay fit together physically, see RFID Antennas & Inlays.

The chip makers

NXP Semiconductors

NXP is a large Netherlands-headquartered semiconductor company and one of the best-known names in RFID and NFC. In UHF it offers the UCODE family of EPC Gen2 chips, with variants aimed at high-volume retail tagging, larger user memory, and cryptographic authentication. In HF it has three widely used families: MIFARE (ISO/IEC 14443 chips used heavily in transport ticketing and access control, ranging from simple to highly secure variants), NTAG (NFC Forum-compliant tags used in smart posters, product authentication and consumer engagement), and ICODE (ISO/IEC 15693 vicinity chips used in libraries, healthcare and industrial labelling).

Impinj

Impinj is a USA-based company focused on UHF RAIN RFID. Its endpoint chips are sold under the Monza name and the newer M-series families (such as M700 and M800 series), which are widely used in retail item tagging. Unusually, Impinj also works further down the chain: it makes reader chips used by other reader manufacturers, fixed readers, and gateway products that combine readers and antennas for portals and overhead coverage.

Alien Technology

Alien Technology, based in the USA, is known for its Higgs family of UHF Gen2 chips, which have been used in many inlays for supply chain, retail and asset tracking. Alien also designs and sells its own inlays and UHF readers, so it spans the chip, inlay and reader layers.

EM Microelectronic

EM Microelectronic is a Swiss semiconductor company that is part of the Swatch Group. It has a long history in low-frequency (LF) chips, including ones widely used in access cards and animal or industrial identification, and also offers HF/NFC and UHF chips. It is known for dual-frequency designs that combine NFC and UHF on one chip, useful when the same tag must be read by supply-chain readers and by consumers' phones.

Others

These are not the only chip makers. Several other manufacturers produce RFID and NFC chips, including a number of companies in China whose chips appear in inlays sold worldwide, particularly in cost-sensitive applications. Some retail programmes and buyers specify only certain chips, so always check requirements before switching.

Chip families compared

The table below is a qualitative summary. Specifications change with each generation, so always check the current datasheet for sensitivity, memory sizes and features before you commit.

To go deeper into memory banks, sensitivity and security features, read RFID Chips Explained and Which RFID Chip for Which Application.

Inlay and label makers

Avery Dennison

Avery Dennison is a USA-based materials and labelling company and one of the largest producers of RFID inlays and labels in the world. Its RFID business grew significantly when it acquired the transponder (inlay and tag) business of Smartrac, a deal completed around 2020. Avery Dennison supplies inlays and finished RFID labels and tags for apparel, retail, food, logistics and other sectors, and works closely with retail RFID programmes. In 2025 it announced and opened an RFID inlay production facility in Pune, India, which is relevant for Indian buyers looking at local supply and lead times.

The wider inlay and tag landscape

Many other inlay makers and tag manufacturers operate globally, with large production bases in Asia, Europe and the Americas. India also has a growing number of label converters and tag makers producing UHF labels, hard tags, wristbands and cards, usually built on imported inlays or chips. An inlay maker typically offers dozens of designs using chips from several chip makers - the same chip may appear in a small inlay for jewellery and a long inlay for cartons.

Reader and printer makers

Readers and printers are a separate part of the market, and many companies here are not chip or inlay makers at all.

• Readers: well-known names include Zebra Technologies and Honeywell (fixed, handheld and sled readers), Impinj (fixed readers and gateways), and many other manufacturers of fixed, handheld, embedded and desktop readers worldwide. Readers sold in India must support the 865-867 MHz band and stay within the 4 W EIRP limit (1 W transmitter power), with appropriate type approval.
• RFID printers: Zebra, SATO, TSC (including the Printronix Auto ID brand) and Honeywell are among the established makers of thermal label printers with built-in UHF encoders. They print the visible barcode and text and encode the chip in one pass. See RFID printers and RFID Encoders Explained.

Who works with whom

The chain is mostly a series of business-to-business relationships:

1. A chip maker sells chips to inlay makers (and sometimes to card and tag makers directly).
2. An inlay maker combines those chips with its antenna designs and sells inlays to converters - and in some cases sells finished labels directly to large brands.
3. A converter such as Indian RFID turns inlays into labels or tags with the right face material, adhesive, size and printing, and often encodes them to the customer's EPC scheme.
4. Printer and reader makers sell through distributors and system integrators, who combine hardware with software.
5. The end user usually buys labels from a converter, hardware and software from an integrator, and sometimes sets rules (approved inlays, encoding) that all its suppliers must follow.

How to compare and choose

Whether you are choosing a chip, an inlay or a supplier, use criteria rather than brand loyalty:

As a broad, indicative guide, plain UHF inlay labels in volume are among the cheapest RFID products, while specialised tags such as on-metal, high-temperature or rugged hard tags cost considerably more. Ask for quotes for your specific format and quantity rather than relying on generic figures.

Questions to ask any label supplier

• Which exact inlay model and chip are inside this label, and who makes them?
• Is this inlay on my buyer's approved list or in the required performance category?
• What is the typical lead time for my quantity, and is the inlay held in stock in India?
• Do you pre-encode and verify every tag, and how do you report or replace dead tags?
• Can you supply samples and help test them on my product before I order?
• If this chip or inlay becomes scarce, what tested alternative can you offer?

HF, NFC and LF supply chains are a little different

Most of this chapter describes the UHF world, where high-volume inlays flow through converters into labels. HF and NFC products often follow a slightly different path. Smart cards for transport or access control are typically made by card manufacturers who buy chip modules and laminate them into PVC or composite cards, and secure applications may also need key management and personalisation services. NFC stickers and tags for consumer use are made from HF inlays in a way similar to UHF labels, but the chip choice is driven by NFC Forum compatibility with phones and by features like tamper detection or secure messaging. LF tags for animals and access control are frequently glass capsules, ear tags or key fobs, with wound copper coil antennas rather than etched aluminium. The same principles apply - know who makes the chip and the tag, and test on the real application - but the suppliers and formats can differ. See the NFC tags range for HF examples.

Common myths

• "Brand X chip reads farther." Chip sensitivity contributes to range, but the antenna design, inlay size, the product material (metal, liquid, foil packaging), tag orientation, and reader power and antennas often matter as much or more. A well-matched inlay with an older chip can outperform a poorly matched inlay with the newest chip.
• "All UHF labels are the same." Labels differ in inlay, chip, face stock, adhesive and conversion quality, and performance can vary widely on the same product.
• "Buying direct from the chip maker is cheapest." Chip makers generally do not sell finished labels; the inlay and conversion steps are where most of the finished product is created.
• "Newest is always best." A newer chip may offer better sensitivity or features, but approval status, availability and compatibility with your existing encoding process also count.

How Indian RFID sources and converts inlays

Indian RFID, the RFID division of Mindware, works as a converter and solutions provider. We start from the application - the product material, required read range, label size, environment and any buyer specifications - and then select a suitable inlay and chip from established inlay and chip makers. We convert those inlays into finished UHF RFID labels, tags and other formats, print them, and encode them to the customer's numbering or GS1 EPC scheme where required. Where a buyer has an approved list, we work within it; where there is none, we test candidate inlays on the customer's product before recommending one. Hardware such as printers and readers is chosen the same way, based on the job rather than a single brand.

If you want to understand the industry, chip selection and conversion in practical, hands-on depth, our RFID courses in India cover these topics with real tags and equipment.