NFC phone sales to soar to 1.2b units

Sales of NFC (near field communication) 4G mobile phones may quadruple to 1.2 billion units in 2018, and NXP Semiconductors sees Chinese users as a huge market that will use their phones as mobile wallet.

More than 275 million smartphones sold globally in 2013 were equipped with the NFC function, which helps smartphones and other electronic devices to communicate with each other. The sales of NFC-enabled phone are predicted to jump fourfolds globally to 1.2 billion units in 2018, according to research firm IHS Technology.

China has been contributing 75 percent of the sales of NFC chips for NXP, whose domestic clients include Datang, ZTE and Oppo, over the past two years. The Dutch company commands over 80 percent of the global NFC chip market.

"NXP has been collaborating with Chinese partners to secure the way people connect and interact with the world," said Steve Owen, NXP's executive vice president.