Nokia is planning a major push into the Near Field Communications (NFC) market with the launch of a range of NFC-enabled devices in 2010.
The portfolio of handsets will cover both the high and low end of the consumer market, ranging from basic, entry level handsets to smartphones.
Some of the devices will be Sim-enabled, while others will run on the updated Symbian 3 platform.
The move sees Nokia step up its drive into the NFC sector, which has so far launched three such devices in the UK.
Nokia Industry Collaborations VP Mark Selby told Mobile: ‘Nokia is anticipating multiple NFC-enabled devices, which won’t all be at the high end of the market. Our plan is to see NFC in lots of devices, not just smartphones.’
Selby declined to say when or how many NFC devices Nokia plans to launch, but said he anticipated that UK consumers will be widely using NFC devices by 2012.
One source close to Nokia said: ‘In Q3 and Q4 of next year we will see Nokia going into NFC in a big way. They will be bringing forward a lot of phones with embedded NFC.’
Selby said Nokia’s recent decision to halve its smartphone portfolio will not impact on Nokia’s NFC plans. ‘We are still absolutely committed to NFC in terms of the devices and what is in them,’ he said.
NFC global trials, including the O2 NFC trial in 2008, had proved that ‘it is no longer about whether consumers want NFC but about when consumers will
get it,’ said Selby.
Selby said NFC transactions are expected to be for small items such as a coffee or sandwiches. He pointed to the cheaper cost of buying a ticket with an Oyster card as an example of how consumers will save by using NFC.