On which mobile OS will NFC first see market adoption? – Question from Simon Judge, Mobile Phone Development

Last updated: 20 March 2014

Continuing our Mobile World Congress tradition of answering questions posed to us by influencers in the mobile industry, today Simon Judge of Mobile Phone Development wants to know which mobile OS will be the main one to spur NFC adoption on.

Up to now the main NFC debate has been who will be first to adopt it from the industry; the mobile operators, the handset manufacturers, OEMs, card merchants, banks, retailers or others. What we’ve since established is that NFC technology will only take off when all these players come together to shape the NFC ecosystem that the consumer can truly and securely benefit from.

This question from Simon is more interesting given the ongoing – highly personal – debate over which mobile OS will dominate. The popularity contest continues: iOS versus Android (others are still far behind). News just in from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech claims that Android has taken the top spot in the UK, as the most common mobile OS. Other reports put the brakes on this story, claiming that Apple gained a slight edge over Android in the US smartphone market last quarter and that Apple isn’t actually doing less business in the UK, and that in fact, there just is a much bigger pool of cell phones being bought.

So, the race continues. I’ve been asked for my view, however, and I have to say I think NFC is more likely to see market adoption on Android mobile phones. While, as seen with past product releases, nobody knows what Apple will come up with in future, Android is the key player right here and now. Android devices are already available in volume from many OEMs and the platform offers a highly technical environment for application developers.

Do you agree? I’d be interested in hearing your views – come and find me at #MWC12 in Hall 8 Stand 8A102.

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