Shipments of NFC-enabled handsets reached 30 million units in 2011
Shipments of NFC-enabled handsets reached 30 million units in 2011
Global sales of NFC-equipped smartphones increased tenfold to 30 million units in 2011, according to a report from Berg Insight. The research firm estimates that by 2016 there will more than 700 million handsets with NFC capabilities. In 2011, several leading handset vendors released more than 40 NFC-enabled devices. “Even though it will take some time before the stakeholders agree on business models for payment networks, other use cases such as reading tags and easy pairing of devices may well be compelling enough for handset vendors to integrate NFC in mid- and high-end devices already today,” said André Malm, a senior analyst at Berg Insight. Google has already launched its Wallet service, as Apple, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile ready their own payment platforms. Previous estimates stated that more than 50% of all smartphones will be NFC enabled in the next two to three years with the help of Apple’s upcoming iPhone, which has long been rumored to include the technology. Read on for Berg Insight’s press release. More →
