Qualcomm adds to NFC iPhone 5 doubts

Qualcomm adds doubt to an NFC iPhone 5 by telling MobileBeat 2011 delegates that products featuring its mobile processors and software will not be seen until late 2011 or early 2012

It looks as if there is an ever dwindling possibility for an NFC iPhone 5 today. Raj Talluri, vice president of product management for Qualcomm has been speaking about mobile payments today at the MobileBeat 2011 conference. Firstly it is important to understand what it is Qualcomm does in respect to mobile phones. Qualcomm specializes in taking individual components that are built into phones like cameras, mp3 players, WiFi chips and so on and then they build them all onto one piece of silicon. This allows for minimal space to be taken up inside of our mobile phones which allows them to be super thin and energy efficient.

Qualcomm had been pegged as the supplier Apple would probably use for NFC components for an NFC iPhone 5

Super efficient all-in-one chips that do not take up too much space sounds like music to Apple’s ears. Qualcomm has been working on mobile financial transactions and the hardware and software that is required to fit in our mobile phones. NFC is part of that equation and it has been rumored that Apple has turned to Qualcomm to help them develop their NFC hardware platform.

“For Qualcomm, to launch a product that the end consumer can enjoy, we must work with a laundry list of people. Using mobile payments as an example, we spend our time interacting with partners like Google that create secure operating systems. Next we work with the operator to launch the system. We engage service providers like Paypal or Citybank to enable financial transactions. And we collaborate with phone makers like HTC to launch the app on their phone,” said Talluri. We suggest you just replace every company name in the quote with Apple for it to make sense.

Unfortunately, it appears as if Qualcomm’s technology will not be suitably evolved and available in time for the iPhone 5 launch.

“The issue with financial transactions on mobile is the limit on how much money you can move, given security parameters. We are spending time at Qualcomm to build an infrastructure that secures financial payments and lifts the limit. The infrastructure includes hardware inside the processor and software that allows applications to run inside a secure environment, which is authenticated with by a key mechanism. You’ll see products late this year or early next,” added Talluri.

(If) Qualcomm truly isn’t read, Apple can’t use its technology in the iPhone 5

Of course, Apple has been known to surprise us all and have their suppliers under very strict Non disclosure agreements NDA’s , but the conspiracy theorist in us still holds out hope of an NFC iPhone 5 to be released this September. The presented evidence, however, is saying it may not happen. We have already discussed the potential costs to Apple in other posts, which you can see at the top of the page in the series tab. We will keep hunting for any signs of an NFC iPhone 5 or Qualcomm NFC products and will keep you updated.