14/4/11
By Scott Thompson
One in five smartphones will have NFC by 2014, according to a new Juniper research report.
Worldwide, Juniper forecasts almost 300 million NFC capable smartphones by 2014, driven in the short-term by mobile network operators launching services in 20 early adopting countries before the end of 2012.
The report forecasts that NFC payments and retail marketing capability via coupons and smart posters will become common amongst smartphone users in Western Europe, North America and other developed regions. NFC Retail Marketing and Mobile Payments Report author Howard Wilcox says: "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. France is a case in point where operators expect to sell one million NFC devices this year."
NFC is attracting the attention of all the major players such as Google, France Telecom Orange and Telefonica who see mobile commerce capability as vital. Juniper’s report pinpoints the main revenue opportunities but warns that business model structures still require development before NFC services will achieve critical mass.
Click here to obtain a copy of the report.
