NFC chips to surpass 1.2 billion by 2015

Market research firm, In-Stat reveals that near field communications (NFC) chip shipments will grow dramatically during the next several years as an increasing number of mobile devices adopt NFC technology, BGR reports.

In-Stat says NFC chip shipments will surpass 1.2 billion units by 2015, the same year the technology is expected to reach a 30% global penetration.

"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 Allen Nogee, In-Stat research director, in a MediaTel report.

"The growth of combo chips will also allow NFC radios to piggyback on technology that already has significant penetration in the market. For example, Bluetooth radios, which currently have 100% market penetration, can be integrated with NFC radios, making the choice to include NFC easy for OEMs," adds Nogee.

NFC is seen as the future of the mobile market, with the mobile wallet payment method currently in development on future smartphones, Mobile Entertainment explains.

The tech is behind the Google Wallet service introduced in the US in September, and will power the UK cross-operator contactless mobile payment project lined up for later in the year.