Broadcom has just announced their first NFC products, the BCM2079x family of chips. Built using a 40 nanometer process, their chips use 90% less power than current solutions and they also take up 40% less space on a motherboard. They even support multiple embedded secure elements and/or SIM cards for contactless payment and secure applications. So why is this news important? Because nearly every smartphone maker, scratch that, nearly ever consumer electronics vendor who isn’t using a Qualcomm chip depends on Broadcom to deliver connectivity with their now widely deployed WiFi/Bluetooth/FM combination chip. It’s a simple solution to add wireless support to practically any device. The BCM2079x family plugs right into that chip, which means adding NFC will be incredibly easy from both a component sourcing perspective and a compatibility and testing perspective. You might be thinking why doesn’t Broadcom just come out with a chip that does WiFi/Bluetooth/NFC/FM? It’s simply a matter of time. It’ll happen sooner rather than later.
“Broadcom is committed to making NFC as ubiquitous as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are today. These solutions provide the features and performance that enable disruptive innovation that will reshape the mobile consumer experience. Our leadership and proficiency in wireless connectivity influenced the architecture of these new chips to meet the performance required by OEMs, allowing them to more easily add NFC to their designs.” — Craig Ochikubo, VP and GM, Wireless Personal Area Networks, Broadcom Corporation
The bigger question here is when will Qualcomm get off their asses and start making NFC a default feature of their Snapdragon platform? Nearly half of all Android devices use Qualcomm chipsets, so future devices aren’t going to get NFC until Qualcomm actually develops the technology. They’re likely waiting for costs to come down or for there to be enough momentum in the industry before bringing their solution out, which is a wise for business, but … yea, we’re just too impatient!