A new report from Juniper Research on the $110bn NFC opportunity forecasts that one in every six mobile subscribers globally will have an NFC enabled device by 2014. Currently adoption is centred on the Far East, with use very limited outside of this region, says Juniper.
The NFC report says that payments and retail transactions such as coupons would combine to transform the phone into not only a payment tool but also a retail tool in addition to its many current functions.
Report author Howard Wilcox said: "Our research found that both the business model and the rollout of POS (Point of Sale) NFC readers at merchant locations are issues that need solving – depending on the country. As these are overcome NFC is poised to enter an operational build up phase culminating in mass service rollouts across many countries, typically in metro areas driven by transport ticketing."
Further findings from the NFC research include:
- NFC/Felica payments are already established in Japan but by 2014 North America and Western Europe will be experiencing high growth
- By 2014, NFC global gross transaction value will exceed $110bn
- Retailing ARPU from NFC coupons and smart posters will exceed ARPU from NFC payment transactions
The Juniper Research report examines the opportunities available in both the mobile payments market and the mobile retail market (smart posters and coupons), as well as newly emerging interim solutions such as stickers & SD cards. The report features detailed six year forecasts across eight regions of the world, for shipments of NFC enabled devices and interim NFC solutions, NFC devices in use for payments, transactions traffic, NFC transaction value and coupons and smart poster ARPU until 2014.
Juniper Research says it conducted primary research interviews with CxO level management from key industry players.