NFC Chip Shipments to Surpass 1.2 Billion by 2015

NFC Chip Shipments to Surpass 1.2 Billion by 2015 according to In-Stat

In-Stat forecasts that NFC Chip shipments will surpass 1.2 billion by 2015. We all know near field communication is growing, but it is always nice to see research houses like In-Stat put some figures to it, and 1.2 billion represents a good portion of the population of the world. With just over 1 in every 5 people globally having access to NFC capabilities in just over 3 years, this just goes to show that the growth of near field communication is set to be rampant. That said, In-Stat are more conservative when it comes to NFC payments, projecting that only 375 million users will be using NFC payments by 2015. That’s just over the population of the United States, which seems a little on the low end to us.

“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, Research Director. “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.”

NFC chips and tags set for unprecedented growth

The forecasts that near field communication will reach 30% global penetration by 2015, which is substantially higher than 1.2 billion. So, we think they must be referring to the number of countries that will have near field communication services and handsets available. Although again, that seems a little low to us compared to what we are seeing globally already in the form of trials, services and projects that are getting underway. Global annual shipments of NFC chips will grow at a CAGR of 129% over the forecast period according to In-Stat.

Either way you look at it, report after report projects that NFC chip sales and NFC tag demand is set to become astronomical over the next few years. Between Google Wallet and Isis alone, they will already hit most US consumers. That’s well over 300 million users. We are living in near field communication times, my friends. So if you are searching for NFC stocks, pick the NFC tag and NFC IC manufactures to invest in.