Soca_SF-1000 has an optical sensor and a maximum capacity of 4,000 cards.

Access control product makers in Taiwan view product development as their biggest challenge to date.

Research firm Frost & Sullivan placed the value of the global security equipment market in 2006 at $79.6 billion, with access control products taking up at least 21 percent of the total.

Although it has been around since the 1980s, Taiwan's access control products industry accounts for only a small portion of the global security market. Today, there are about 50 active manufacturers of access control hardware and software in Taiwan. Most of them are small and medium-sized enterprises with sales revenues ranging from $3 million to $5 million.

These companies started out as system integrators or suppliers of traditional access control systems. Some of them joined the industry from 2000 onwards, choosing to focus on high-end products such as RFID or biometric access control systems.

Given the product line’s maturity, most access control product manufacturers in Taiwan view new product development as their biggest challenge to date. Key innovations include smart cards, convergence of logical and physical access control systems, and biometric access control products.

Aside from manufacturing standalone models, makers are also developing total solutions to maintain their competitive edge. Improving data transfer speed and processing power is also a major R&D initiative.

For the biometric access control segment, which includes face recognition, iris verification and palm vein identification products, price cuts are fueling market growth. The segment continues to enjoy wider acceptance as prices of fingerprint modules continue to drop and suppliers reduce production costs.

According to interviewed companies, access control technology has remained dormant in recent years. Product enhancements have been few and far between, and limited to the improvement of products’ effective reading range.

Some makers, however, have successfully pursued major product innovations, such as multi-technology and multi-application smart cards, convergence of logical and physical access control, and biometric access control systems such as face and fingerprint verification. Other companies have ventured into the development of Mifare card readers, which can also be used as prepaid card readers. Most of the companies in this report provide smart cards with processors and memory.

Despite the lack of activity in the product line, makers are optimistic that advancements in biometric and wireless technologies will revitalize a supposedly mature industry.

At present, biometric access control product makers are extending the application of fingerprint authentication technology to other consumer electronic products such as notebook PCs and mobile phones. Other noteworthy industry developments include the use of contactless verification processes, specifically face recognition, iris verification and palm vein identification. Despite the huge growth potential of these new technologies, product development efforts have been hampered by their high production costs and highly specialized applications. To date, only governments and intelligent buildings have put these emerging technologies to good use.

Nevertheless, makers are confident that the cost of biometric modules will decrease as demand continues to grow. Startek Engineering Inc. positions itself as an R&D-oriented company, investing about 16 percent of its annual sales revenue in R&D activities. The company has developed a series of fingerprint access control devices based on minutiae-only technology. Startek's latest fingerprint recorders boast enhanced features, such as better identification capability, larger data storage and network connectivity.

For wireless technology applications, makers are looking into the production of wireless door locks, wireless controllers, portable biometric access control products, and smart and standalone readers. The use of wireless systems is expected to minimize, if not totally eliminate, cabling costs, and ensure easy installation and operation.

Pongee Industries Co. Ltd is one company that can develop products powered by wireless technologies such as ZigBee. Its R&D team designs controller ICs for RFID readers.

Taipei and Middle Taiwan, including Taichung and Chiayi County, are the two major access control product manufacturing hubs in Taiwan.

Soyal Technology Co. Ltd's factory is located in Taipei, near residential and commercial centers. The factory is an hour away from the CKS International Airport, and 45 minutes away from the Keelung sea port and train stations.

Pongee's ISO 9001:2000 factory in Taipei Hsien has three to four assembly lines, all of which are RoHS- and WEEE- compliant. The company has a monthly capacity of about 200 RFID card readers and 30,000 to 50,000 RFID cards. Four to five engineers handle QC. Pongee exports about 50 percent of its output to Southeast Asia, and ships the rest to Europe, North America and Australia.

Exports account for 70 percent of Soca Technology Co. Ltd's sales revenue. Asia is the largest market, absorbing 81 percent of its exports. Europe accounts for 10 percent of the total, while North and South America and Africa each take up 3 percent.