A total of 168m NFC controller ICs and 144m NFC secure element chips were shipped in 2012, according to ABI Research, and NXP topped the chip supplier list for both... More
ABI reports NFC chip market shares
The Market
One in three mobile phones to come with NFC by 2017
Between 2012 and 2017 the installed base of NFC-enabled handsets will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 65% to reach 2.1bn units, according to new research from Berg Insight. “The penetration rate for NFC across all handset segments will similarly increase to approximately 32% by 2017.” More
Gartner cuts NFC mobile payments forecast by 40%
Worldwide mobile payment transaction values will reach US$235.4bn in 2013, a 44% increase on 2012’s $163.1bn, according to a new forecast from Gartner — but NFC transactions will account for a smaller than expected proportion of that total and the overall market value has also been reduced... More
Survey reveals demand for contactless and NFC payments in Dubai
A survey published by digital security specialist Gemalto has shown a high demand for contactless and NFC payments in Dubai, with 85% of those polled saying they would ‘like’ or ‘love’ to use their mobile handset as a contactless payment method and 72% seeing no obstacle at all when using mobile NFC... More
ABI: 125m NFC phones shipped in 2012
A total of 125m NFC phones were shipped in 2012, according to ABI Research, along with 147m NFC secure elements... More
GSMA calls for feedback on NFC loyalty and coupon proposals
The GSMA has published a proposed technical specification for a common standard for managing loyalty cards, coupons and vouchers in a mobile wallet — and is asking for feedback on its proposals from retailers, loyalty and coupon scheme operators... More
Has NFC missed the mobile payments boat or will the industry rise to the cloud payments challenge?
In the April issue of Mobile Wallet Outlook the NFC World team examines why NFC is failing to gain traction in the mobile payments market, analyzes the range of cloud-based options available for those seeking to deliver mass market mobile wallets — and sets out in detail how MCX’s barcode and cloud-based wallet will work, when it’s likely to launch and who is already using the same approach today. More
MasterCard blames carriers for NFC payments delays
“The telcos keep on doing the same thing, they get arrogant and then they get disintermediated,” MasterCard’s Jorn Lambert has told The Australian Financial Review. More
Inside Secure NFC chip sales fall
Inside Secure has reported a fall in revenues of 68% year-on-year for its Mobile NFC division... More
Eurosmart ups NFC SE forecast
250m NFC secure elements will be shipped in 2013, Eurosmart forecasts, up some 67% from the 150m units shipped in 2012 and an increase on the smart card trade body’s last estimation in November 2012... More
Consumer awareness of NFC remains low across Europe
Only 8% of European consumers are aware of NFC technology, up just 2% from a year ago, a survey of 9,000 people in six European countries has found... More
UL to offer Mifare testing
UL Transaction Security is to develop and run a Mifare Test Centre, offering functional certification services for Mifare contactless cards and Mifare applications running on mobile devices... More
NFC SIM shipments up 87%
A total of 30m NFC SIMs were shipped globally by members of the SIMalliance in 2012 — an 87% increase on 2011... More
NBS gets Turkish TSM deal
NBS Technologies has announced that its Xpressi Trusted Service Manager (TSM) platform has been chosen by an unnamed customer in Turkey... More
MasterCard fights back against new payments players with increased transaction fees for digital wallets that don’t share data
The new fee is to be applied to “staged” digital and mobile wallets that provide a way for transactions to be charged to a customer’s credit card without any details about the purchase being passed on to the payments network. PayPal and Google Wallet as well as a number of other new market entrants are all expected to be affected but “traditional” NFC wallets will not. More
Inside Secure to cut jobs after “a disappointing performance in 2012”
Up to 20% of the workforce could lose their jobs at the publicly listed NFC, contactless and security chip specialist following the announcement that revenues fell by 19% in 2012 and losses were “impacted by the disappointing performance from the NFC business”. More
AccelerateNFC offers funding to startups
A new startup incubator dedicated to NFC-based projects has announced it will be offering funding of US$5,000 per founder as well as mentoring, legal advice and work space support to individuals and teams with the best NFC business ideas... More
Google joins NFC Forum board of directors
Ten other organisations have also joined the NFC standards association for the first time, bringing total membership “to a record high of over 180 companies and non-profit groups.” More
Russian carriers plan NFC JV
Russia’s “Big Three” mobile network operators — MTS, Vimpelcom and MegaFon — are in discussions to create a joint venture company for the rollout of NFC services, Alexander Popovskiof, vice president of operations at MTS, has told Vedomosti... More
GSMA honors KT and SK Telecom for NFC
Korean mobile network operators KT and SK Telecom have been named as the winners of the 2013 GSMA Chairman’s Award, the association’s most prestigious honour, in recognition of “their pioneering efforts and leadership in driving the adoption of SIM-based mobile near field communication (NFC) services”... More