Under the global trend of the intelligent connection of all things, IoT technology is reshaping the industry landscape at an exponential rate. According to the latest statistics, the number of global IoT terminal connections has exceeded 18.8 billion in 2024, and is expected to grow to 41 billion by 2030, driving the global economy to achieve an increase of 12.6 trillion US dollars. As the core technology of the IoT perception layer, RFID (radio frequency identification) has become the "invisible engine" driving the digital transformation of the industry with its contactless identification, real-time data collection and efficient management capabilities.
At present, RFID technology has entered a new stage of deep integration with AI, 6G, and edge computing. It is understood that the global shipment of UHF RFID tags has exceeded 55 billion PCS, and the overall market growth rate has exceeded 20%.
In this interview, the IoT Star Organizing Committee was honored to invite Zhang Yongtao, Director of the Marketing Department of Invengo, the award-winning company of the "2024 'IoT Star' China IoT Industry Annual List", to have an in-depth interview on topics such as Invengo's RFID core research and development, strategic layout, and market expansion, so as to further understand Invengo's strategic planning.
Q:
How does Invengo maintain its competitiveness in the current market environment?
A:
1. Continuous technological innovation.
As a high-tech enterprise, for Invengo, technology is the root of its foothold and innovation is the soul of its development. The company invests a lot of money in technology research and development every year to maintain the innovative advantages of its core technologies.
At the application level - customer-centric: Invengo has in-depth cooperation with many high-level and high-standard customers and has gained a lot of valuable project experience. On the one hand, these experiences have become the driving force for Invengo's technological innovation; on the other hand, they have also helped Invengo to have a clearer understanding of the direction of innovation.
At the strategic level - core technology research: Based on the company's long-term development strategic goals, Invengo relies on scientific research resources such as the Radio Frequency Identification Engineering Technology Research and Development Center to conduct long-term exploration and attempts on more cutting-edge core technologies, allowing the company to keep its feet on the ground while also looking up at the sky.
At the trend level - embracing AI: In the face of the development trend of artificial intelligence, Invengo actively introduces AI and decisively conducts integrated innovation in technology and application in artificial intelligence, taking specific products as the starting point, such as AI digital librarians, and seeking technological breakthroughs from the exploration of new trends.
Second, actively explore overseas markets.
Price involution is not a way out, only by looking at the world can the pattern be revealed. In the face of increasingly competitive domestic markets, in addition to increasing the speed of innovation, going overseas has also become a general trend. At present, Invengo has established a global marketing network with Shenzhen as its headquarters, covering most domestic and foreign regions such as China, Singapore, the United States, South Korea, Europe, and Australia. With RFID technology as the core, it has built an overseas smart service matrix, cut in from multiple businesses, and created a more diverse, more well-known, and more excellent international business card for Invengo.
Third, build a more dynamic business ecosystem.
On the one hand, Invengo vigorously integrates the company's business resources. Break through departmental barriers, integrate wisdom from all ends, concentrate advantages, focus on core businesses, and make services more refined, more distinctive, and more innovative; on the other hand, incubate and cultivate emerging businesses, combine their own advantages and future trends, and establish a phased advancement and innovative product and service ecology.
On the one hand, explore new operating models and actively participate in the construction and coordinated development of the RFID industry chain. For example, we can establish close cooperative relationships with upstream and downstream companies such as chip manufacturers, antenna manufacturers, and customer groups to achieve resource sharing and complementary advantages; at the same time, we can actively participate in the formulation of industry standards, promote the standardized development of RFID, and create a good market competition environment.
Q:
Invengo has clearly proposed to focus on the three core industries of railways, book culture, and clothing retail, while expanding into the fields of medical care, electricity, tobacco, etc. What market demand and technical adaptability are these industry choices based on? Are there plans to expand into more vertical fields in the future?
A:
In the digital age, all walks of life are actively seeking digital means to enhance market competitiveness. Rather than saying that Invengo has chosen certain industries, it is better to say that these industries have chosen RFID and Invengo. As one of the earliest high-tech companies in my country to develop RFID technology and the first RFID listed company in China, it can be said that Invengo has witnessed the rise and development of domestic RFID, and has also felt the pulse of digital development from the development of RFID. Today, RFID is flourishing in countless fields. This is the call of the times for the interconnection of all things, and it is also a reflection of the industry's demand for RFID.
In terms of technical adaptation, RFID, as one of the key application technologies in the field of the Internet of Things, has the following advantages: no contact, efficient and accurate identification, large information capacity, modifiable, strong anti-interference ability, reusable, and high degree of automation. It is these characteristics that make RFID show great application potential in multiple industries.
In the future, Invengo will continue to deepen its advantageous fields and deepen communication and exchanges with customers, but at the same time it will fully apply the spirit of innovation to business expansion and experimentation, actively explore, keep up with major changes in the new era, and contribute its IoT wisdom in more application scenarios. Please stay tuned!
Q:
As the first RFID listed company in China, how does Invengo compete with European and American companies in the international market? How is it different from the domestic strategy? What are the key measures for your company in the localization strategy and brand building for overseas markets (such as the United States and Europe)?
A:
Improve the level of product localization: Domestic competition emphasizes cost control and large-scale application, while international market competition pays more attention to the right to speak on technical standards. In this regard, Invengo actively integrates into local industry associations and participates in technical certification. At the same time, it iterates the products internationally to meet local product certification standards and actual applications; at the same time, it optimizes the product line and establishes a richer and more adaptable product supporting ecosystem to meet customer needs.
Extension development: Actively establish cooperative relationships with local companies to jointly develop RFID solutions that are adaptable to the local market, or adopt joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions, such as ATID, an overseas sub-brand of Invengo, a world-renowned mobile data collection terminal manufacturer. The series of RFID handheld readers it has developed are widely used in logistics, production, warehousing, etc., and have now become an important focus for Invengo to expand overseas markets.
Flexible brand promotion: actively participate in international industry exhibitions, such as the 2025 EuroCIS exhibition in Germany that Invengo recently participated in, to keep pace with the international market in terms of market awareness, technological frontiers, application solutions, cost control, business cooperation, etc.; at the same time, vigorously promote past excellent cases to demonstrate the strength of Invengo's smart solutions; finally, participate in local industry activities, establish close relationships with local friendly companies and various institutions, and jointly expand market channels.
Q:
In terms of product technology, Invengo has more than 600 patented technologies, and its independently developed RFID chips, readers and writers and other products cover multiple scenarios. In terms of core technology, what aspects does Invengo's core competitiveness manifest?
A:
Deeply cultivate the market-the key source of technology. For Invengo, which has a high market share in the fields of railways, clothing retail, libraries, etc., the gifts from many high-quality customers to us are not only trust and orders. In the process of in-depth cooperation, user feedback and experience in the process of project implementation have also become the core elements of Invengo's technological innovation. This is the advantage given to us by our partners and also a part of our core technological competitiveness.
Deep foundation - knowledge accumulation. In 1993, Invengo was involved in the application research of RFID. It is one of the earliest high-tech companies in my country to develop RFID technology. After more than 20 years of technology application, innovation iteration, communication and learning, Invengo has accumulated deep technical foundation, which is the guarantee of our products with higher performance, more accurate reading, more durable equipment, smarter software and more mature solutions.
Rich and diverse - forming a system resonance. The diversity of the technology chain is also our advantage. Invengo has more than 600 patented technologies, and its independently developed RFID chips, readers and writers and other products cover multiple scenarios. These rich technologies have initially built Invengo's own product ecosystem, enabling Invengo to have the comprehensive capabilities of overall design of smart solutions, personalized development of software and hardware, and rapid supply of equipment production.
Continuous innovation - maintaining the vitality of technological innovation. Technology is always in the process of continuous innovation, and the speed of innovation determines the speed of the company's development. Based on the above technical advantages, Invengo puts technological innovation in an important position in the development of the company, builds a knowledge system, closely integrates with the market, and maintains innovative vitality.
This paper is from Ulink Media, Shenzhen, China, the organizer of IOTE EXPO (IoT Expo in China)
