More than 2.1 billion EMV cards were issued worldwide in 2014, up 27.5 percent from 2013. Issuance of cards in China and the U.S. accounted for a substantial portion of this growth, according to an ABI Research report.

Without dramatic growth in these two nations, year-over-year shipment growth would have just 6.6 percent, ABI found.

Year-over-year shipment growth in excess of 20 percent will prove a short-term phenomenon, however. As the U.S. and China reach the saturation point, growth within each country will slow, with annual shipments forecast to settle in at the 500 million and 700 million range, respectively.

With a limited number of countries still to commit to EMV migration, vendor focus is turning to what limited opportunity remains, said ABI Research Senior Analyst Phil Sealy.

Although future growth for EMV card volumes may be limited, other revenue avenues are opening. All the major players including Gemalto, Oberthur Technologies, Giesecke & Devrient, and Morpho are balancing strategies in a bid to address next-generation opportunities.

From a payments card perspective, contact to contactless migration is a natural step in next-generation EMV migration. But to ensure continued volume growth, vendors have to balance next-generation strategies with one targeting new green field opportunities in cost sensitive regions including India, the Philippines, and Indonesia ... it's important to maintain a broad product portfolio to ensure vendors can address both the emerging and established opportunities."

Findings from ABI Research Smart Card Technologies Market Research. Data used is from points across all major regions and 30 individual countries, with smart chip-EMV and mag-stripe data splits across ATM-only, credit, debit and open loop prepaid cards.