These are not the only milestones: in terms of value, the IC market returned to the 2 billion Dollar level after a significant decline in 2009 when it fell to 1.7 billion Dollar. This growth is a result of higher volumes and a slower decline in average selling price (ASP) as well as strong growth in higher value verticals and a greater requirement for higher-level features, such as contactless and multiple application capabilities. Smart cards employing a contactless interface made up a little over 10 percent of the total. Practice director John Devlin, says, “One might expect contactless to account for a higher percentage, but we must remember that SIM cards, which have not yet seen any significant contactless rollout, account for the majority of shipments.” Devlin continues, “In the payment and banking sector, 2010 shipment volumes grew 15 percent and in the coming year they are forecast to expand even faster, comfortably exceeding the milestone of 1 billion units for the first time. We are also seeing more demand for EMV-compliant cards with advanced DDA (Dynamic Data Authentication) capability, new products meeting higher level Common Criteria security standards and greater issuance of contactless solutions.” www.abiresearch.com