Sales of NFC-enabled devices will accelerate from 2013 onwards, according to market watchers Informa Telecoms & Media - they expect total NFC handset shipments to grow from almost 44 million in 2011 to over 630 million in 2015 (representing 40% of all new handsets, up from 3.5% at present).
The company anticipates "the availability of a larger range of mobile NFC handsets and an improved contactless POS infrastructure", in its latest market report.
It believes that various user cases for mobile NFC will drive the growth - such as tagging/sharing, access controls, coupons, loyalty cards, information, ticketing and local payments - and estimates such transactions to be worth $71 billion by 2015.
See also: NFC and Android, from our Eyes on Android blog
“We expect a modest growth of the mobile NFC market for the next two years but this will change as many of the leading players introduce NFC-enabled handsets, spurred to enter the market by fear of Apple’s and Google’s ambitions in the sector. Google has already played its hand, overshadowing moves by carriers in its home territory, the US. Apple is still waiting in the wings, leaving everyone guessing,” comments Guillermo Escofet, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.
“We anticipate that Android will account for the largest number of NFC handset shipments from 2012 onwards and over 75% of NFC handsets are anticipated to be smartphones by 2015,” according to Shailendra Pandey, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.
“Not all NFC handsets shipped will be actively used for NFC services, as this will depend on the number and range of merchants with NFC-enabled POS terminals. Consequently, usage will be highest in markets where POS infrastructure is already widespread like Japan and South Korea or is expected to be rolled out quickly like major urban areas in Western Europe and North America,” said Pandey.
