1.2bn NFC chips to ship in 2015

More than 1.2 billion NFC chips will ship annually by 2015, according to a new forecast from In-Stat. "As the costs of NFC chips decline, and NFC radios are combined with other chip functions, the cost to integrate NFC into handsets will be outweighed by the benefits," says analyst Allen Nogee. "The growth of combo chips will also allow NFC radios to piggyback on technology that already has significant penetration in the market."