2.2bn NFC-enabled handset shipments by 2020, IHS Technology predicts

IHS Technology forecast for NFC-enabled handset shipments
CONSISTENT GROWTH: IHS Technology forecasts rapid rise in shipments. Click to enlarge

Shipments of NFC-enabled handsets will increase to 756m in 2015, up from 444m last year, rising to 2.2bn by 2020, IHS Technology has forecast. The research firm adds NFC is “finally coming of age and gaining some traction”.

“Android operating system will be the largest segment for NFC-enabled smartphones in the forecast period,” says Don Tait from IHS Technology. “Samsung’s Galaxy range of smartphones will continue to remain popular and drive growth of this segment during the forecast period.

“Payment has been seen as the driving application for NFC over the last seven years. Payment is one of the few globally interoperable applications where there is contactless acceptance which is being installed; with the launch of Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay, NFC payments are becoming a more popular form of mobile payment.

“With the liability shift happening in the US in October 2015 and the increasing number of POS terminals that are becoming EMV compliant, NFC payments is projected to become more popular. The more contactless EMV cards and terminals that are deployed will automatically spread the places where NFC on a phone can be used.”

“It has taken over 10 years to get to this stage, but the next five years will prove more fruitful with 2.2bn NFC-enabled handset shipments in 2020,” Tait adds.

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