- Impinj is riding high on chipset support from Qualcomm and MediaTek
- Device maker Zebra is upgrading its portfolio of RFID handhelds to include support for Impinj Gen2X
- Impinj sees consumer demand emerging over the next two to three years, although compelling smartphone use cases remain limited
Impinj is a Seattle-based company that has built a reputation providing RAIN RFID technology to the likes of Nike, Walmart, UPS and Delta so they can keep track of objects.
Last week, Impinj launched a new vision for its Impinj platform focused on delivering what it terms Physical Intelligence to enterprises. Our sister publication Fierce Sensors covered it here.
This week, Impinj is here to say that that enterprise mobile devices with embedded RAIN RFID are entering a new phase – one where device manufacturers and chipset providers are bringing RAIN RFID into smartphone-sized handhelds, rugged tablets and other mobile devices that employees can carry around or attach to their equipment during their workdays.
That includes today’s news that Zebra is upgrading its portfolio of RFID handhelds, sleds and fixed readers to support Impinj Gen2X.
“By enabling Gen2X across our handhelds, sleds, and fixed readers, we’re helping customers achieve more reliable reads, faster inventory, and greater accuracy, especially in challenging environments,” said Chip Yager, a VP and general manager at Zebra Technologies, in a statement.
In fact, Zebra is its first licensee for Gen2X and it’s helping accelerate the adoption of RAIN RFID at scale.
To help gain traction, chipset providers like Qualcomm Technologies and MediaTek now support RAIN-enabled mobile platforms, paving the way for device manufacturers like AMobile, Bluebird, Chainway, Unitech, UROVO and Zebra to bring new enterprise-class mobile devices to market.
Impinj says the next major step for small form factor RFID readers is direct integration of RFID reading capabilities within mobile chipsets. Qualcomm already took this step with its Dragonwing Q-6690 enterprise mobile processor, which integrates RAIN RFID capabilities into the chipset and is Gen2X-capable.
Impinj: from enterprise to consumer
According to Matt Branda, VP of Product and Solution Marketing at Impinj, this is just the beginning.
While RAIN RFID is already making a name for itself in the enterprise space, “we see this as a moment over the next two or three years where consumer [demand] starts to grow,” he said.
Fierce asked why support for RAIN RFID isn’t already in everyday smartphones.
The main reason is lack of use cases, said Branda, who worked at Qualcomm for five years before joining Impinj in 2020.
Most RFID tags are used to track items in the enterprise world, and that didn’t really start to scale until after Covid. Initially, RFID reading technology was packaged in big, bulky high-powered devices in order to read the tags, but the technology has evolved such that tags can be read at a greater distance, he said.
Branda noted that historically, there aren’t many times when new wireless technologies – think Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or NFC – are added to phones. It takes time.
Part of what Impinj and the RAIN Alliance are trying to do is talk about what's going on in the enterprise world to spark conversations and interest on the consumer side, he said.
Brands and retailers are interested, but they don’t have the kind of influence over the likes of Apple, Samsung or Google Pixel to get it in phones.
However, “there is momentum there,” he said, and that’s what they’ll be trying to encourage more of this week when the RAIN Alliance convenes in Madrid, Spain, for the RAIN in Action Summit.
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