NEC Corp. plans to enter the fast-growing market for integrated circuit tags, company sources said Friday.
NEC, NEC Electronics Corp. and other group firms plan to form a 300-strong team to deal with a full range of IC tag operations, including system architecture, the sources said.
NEC plans to release IC tags as early as April and aims to generate 200 billion yen in sales from the IC tag business by 2010, they said.
IC tags are tiny electronic devices that can read and store product information and therefore better help manage distribution.
An IC tag consists of a microchip and a tiny antenna for wireless communication.
NEC Electronics is currently developing an IC tag -- dubbed net label -- with a 0.8-sq.-mm IC chip. It is rewritable and has a maximum memory capacity of 1 kilobit.