Qualcomm Enters NFC Market; Plans to Integrate Chip with Market-Leading Processors

U.S.-based Qualcomm, the world’s largest supplier of processor chips to smartphone makers, has entered the NFC market–a move that could substantially expand the availability of NFC-enabled smartphones.

Qualcomm–whose Snapdragon S4 processors run in such high-profile handsets as the Galaxy S III models in the U.S., the Nexus 4, HTC One X, Motorola’s Droid Razr line, Nokia’s Lumia Windows phones and the Samsung ATIV Tab–said it expects to begin shipping a standalone NFC chip in volume to device makers by the third quarter of 2013. The NFC chip, called the QCA1990, would be available for sampling in the first quarter.

“Given its market position in the smartphone market, this will be like adding rocket fuel to the already fast-growing NFC chipset market,” Mark Hung, wireless research director for U.S.-based research and consulting firm Gartner, told NFC Times.

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