In its latest report, ABI Research is predicting that nearly 2 billion NFC-enabled devices will ship in 2017. The lion’s share of NFC enablement will continue to be focused in the handset (smartphone) market, although other consumer electronic (CE) devices will also be included for simple pairing of devices, exchange of data and online authentication functionality. In total, 395 million NFC-enabled CE devices will ship in 2017, predominantly into media tablets, PC accessories and gaming consoles.
NFC will be used for more than payments with added value coming from the enablement of convenient online/offline authentication, retail and loyalty applications, reader functionality and advertising.
According to ABI, the increase in potential user base is making investment into NFC applications more justifiable and next year the research company expects to see NFC come out of its “trial phase.” Android and Windows Phone 8 are already pushing the handset market forward and now building out into other ecosystem devices with inclusion into tablets and PCs.
All said, we’re not surprised that ABI Research is raising forecasts for NFC-enabled handsets, up from 80 million units to 102 million for year-end 2012, with 9 out of the top 10 OEMs now having such devices commercially available… As usual, you can get additional information from ABI’s website.