Global smart card shipments reached 8.32 billion units in 2025 and are projected to increase to 8.46 billion by 2030, according to ABI Research. The modest growth reflects the effects of inventory correction, eSIM adoption, and evolving card issuance strategies across SIM, payment, and government ID segments.
SIM card shipments totaled 4.08 billion in 2025. eSIM device shipments stood at 523.6 million that year, representing 12.8% of total shipments, and are expected to rise to just under 1.1 billion units by 2030, approaching 27% penetration.
EMV payment card shipments declined to 2.94 billion in 2025, a 3.5% year-over-year decrease, influenced by elevated inventory levels and new reissuance strategies. In contrast, government ID smart card shipments reached nearly 650 million units, marking a 5% year-over-year increase.
The secure IC market is also shifting, with embedded secure ICs gaining share while traditional smart card IC demand faces pressure from ongoing inventory correction. In the first half of 2025, NXP, STMicroelectronics, Infineon, and Samsung accounted for a combined 74% revenue market share in secure ICs, covering both traditional smart card and embedded variants.
“The smart card market is no longer defined by broad-based expansion, but by how effectively vendors adapt to structural change,” said Phil Sealy, Research Director at ABI Research. “The transition from removable SIM to eSIM, the extension of payment card expiry periods, is expected to reduce traditional replacement volumes, forcing suppliers to rethink where future value will come from.”
Sealy added that vendors succeeding over the next five years will need to manage low single-digit shipment growth through disciplined market selection and value-added positioning, including support for eSIM enablement, hybrid physical-digital ID programs, embedded security, and higher-ASP opportunities.
The data comes from ABI Research’s Smart Card and Secure IC Technologies Market Data Overview: 2Q 2026 report, part of the company’s Trusted Device Solutions research service.
