As Apple latest products still do not have clear NFC capabilities, we are seeing other technology giants such as Google continue to invest in NFC (near field communication) technology. The latest example of Google’s commitment to NFC technology is transparent with its new Nexus 5. Some teardowns have identified the Nexus 5 containing Broadcom’s BCM20793M, a unique integrated chip that does not have the secure element used at the core of the old Google wallet. Its new Nexus 5 is equipped with the BCM20793M, a special NFC chip that doesn’t include the secure element at the heart of Google Wallet’s old functionality. Google also seems to have made the right choice in choosing Broadcom ($BCOM) as it’s NFC technology partner since the company is heavily invested in NFC and is a huge portion of their business’s overall revenue & profit.
Likewise, in Apple’s new iPhone 5s, there is no NFC functionality, but instead has quite comparable technologies such as Airdrop and iBeacon, which is based on Wi-Fi connectivity. Since it can be argued that the future of NFC technology lies in the big mobile players, it is difficult to forecast if Google’s android will be a big enough market for NFC to keep growing at a fast rate without the support of Apple iOS phones.
Analysts have indicated that Apple most likely stays away from NFC in their latest iPhones (eg. 5S) due to Apple liking to keep its image of clean, easy and not adding technology that doesn’t have a direct impact on the device’s user experience. However, some analysts have also pointed out that if Apple was to have included NFC technology, we would see a new and improved type of NFC being pushed in mobile devices with followed investment and innovation.
