Report: 300 million NFC smartphones by 2014
According to a new forecast from Juniper Research, the number of smartphones with near field communications (NFC) capabilities will reach 300 million by 2014. The Juniper report estimates that more than 1 in 5 smartphones will be NFC enabled worldwide.
The report, "'NFC Retail Marketing & Mobile Payments: Markets, Forecasts & Strategies 2011-2016," attributes this growth in the short term to wireless carriers launching services supporting programs for NFC phones in 20 countries it identifies as "early adopting." The report says that use of NFC in retail and payment applications will be most common in Western Europe, North America and more developed regions.
"Juniper's market analysis highlighted that, although there are still hurdles ahead, NFC prospects have been boosted by the succession of mobile operator and device vendor announcements," report author Howard Wilcox said. "France is a case in point where operators expect to sell one million NFC devices this year."
While the report forecasts significant growth for NFC technologies in the next three years, it does warn that business models still need further development before NFC services achieve critical mass.