IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Fall 2013 - 25

similar to Wi-fi/Bluetooth chips. from the technical
perspective, NfC will be considered to be complete
when it can be offered as one complete combination
solution which is a hot issue for chip firms and technology diffusion [9].
The experience from industry indicates that one
complete combination of solution is accomplished
when the demand for the technology exceeds 15% of
total handset demand. In fig. 2, fM radio, Bluetooth,
GPS, Wi-fi, and NfC are the potential candidates for
a one-chip combination solution.
Increased NFC Device Variety
Device manufacturers developed NfC phones in
step with the evolution of their services, and the
NfC phone was commercialized in 2010 [10]. The
diffusion of applications and services is hindered if
they only work on a particular device. Therefore,
NfC is considered a "must have" feature for mobile
devices.
Once a consumer decides to use NfC, he/she may
need to choose from a variety of NfC phones. As the
NfC market involves payment applications, trust is
an important factor. We predict that the Apple iPhone
will be prevalent in the NfC phone market because
users are already familiar with paying and purchasing through iPhones. Mobile phones will kick-start
the market, and mass-market uptake will incorporate
consumer electronics.
Solving Security Issues in the NFC Network
RfID readers and tags constitute a closed network
with their own security module, but NfC is a part of an
open network. Its constituents are the NfC controller

1,300

Collaboration Among Players
NfC market collaborations include chip manufacturers and device vendors integrating NfC chips into
their devices, service providers and device vendors
creating devices according to a service roadmap, and
service providers' alliance for hegemony in the NfC
market. Among these collaborations, alliances among
services providers are critical in determining the speed
and direction of NfC commercialization.
Once some of the service providers gain competence, fierce battles ensue with other service providers. In the NfC environment, in particular, battles
between mobile operators and financial players cannot
be avoided. Recently, however, players have formed
strategic partnerships and alliances, and competitors
have become allies, because ties between offline and
online infrastructure are crucial for successful NfC
market entry.
Given that those who have an edge in consumer
applications and infrastructure are likely to end up

Mobile Phone
FM
Bluetooth
Wi-Fi
NFC
GPS
15% Threshold

Mobile Phone

(Unit: Million)

1,000

and a security device. NfC's open network will determine the development of the NfC ecosystem, but
existing systems have different security standards.
NXP follows the Mifare security standard, and Sony
follows the felica standard. This makes it difficult
for NfC to develop into a communication network.
A solution would involve: a) programming an NfC
security module for all the different security systems
(Solution 1), or b) selecting a standard and adapting
all the systems to the standard (Solution 2). In this
case, the new device would adopt new standard. for
rapid commercialization of NfC, it is necessary for a
single integrated standard to be created and adopted.

FM
Bluetooth
500
GPS
Wi-Fi
NFC
15% Threshold

100

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Fig. 2. Forecasting an NFC one-chip solution in view of technology adoption.
IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

fALL 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Fall 2013