NXP secures deal over Infineon

The German government has selected NXP as the supplier of an inlay solution containing a dedicated SmartMX chip, packaged in an ultra-thin module. Issuance of German contactless ID cards, which will replace the current paper-based IDs, will start in November 2010. More than 60 million cards are expected to be rolled out over the next ten years. "Being chosen by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior to supply the security chips for the new German electronic ID is a major achievement for NXP, and a huge recognition of the security and performance of our SmartMX solution," said Ruediger Stroh, executive vice president and general manager of Identification, NXP Semiconductors.