Near field communications technology continues to be a topic of much interest this summer, and rightly so. The release of a recent report by Juniper Research indicates that the use of mobile phones for NFC services is expected to grow rapidly over the next three to five years.
The report forecasts that by 2014, at least 1 in 5 smartphones will be NFC capable and there will be 300 million such phones in use worldwide. By the end of 2012 itself, mobile network operators are expected to launch these services in 20 countries.
In recent times, NFC technology has been growing more popular owing largely to adoption by mobile operators, handset vendors and service providers.
As NFC services become more popular, retail marketing via coupons and smart posters will also become more common, especially in developed nations in North America and Western Europe.
In France alone, device vendors expect to sell 1 million NFC-capable handsets by the end of this year itself. The Far East and China are also expected to turn into large markets for this technology after 2012, due to the forecasted development of newer technology and better global standards.
2011 and 2012 are expected to be landmark years in the launch and propagation of NFC technology and the revenue generated from it is expected to touch $50 billion by 2014.
Although there are still some problems that need to be ironed out, NFC technology is here to stay.
