IC or smart cards were a $2.8 billion industry in 2008 thanks to a number of application markets including mobile handsets, banking, healthcare, and security/ID purposes. IC cards fall into either standard contact or RF contactless varieties, with standard IC cards currently accounting for the majority of revenue.

The entire IC card market was worth nearly $2.8 billion in 2008 with an annual growth rate of 11 percent which will cause the entire market to reach over $4.7 billion by 2013. Standard IC cards currently account for 70 percent of sales with $1.9 billion, however contactless IC cards are predicted to experience higher than average growth rates which will see them grow from just $833 million in 2008 to $1.7 billion in 2013. This is thanks largely to falling ASPs combined with increased unit shipments which are growing at an impressive 18 percent annually.