Category: NFC Technology

Consumer fatigue threatens Apple in Asia

The iPhone continues to be a rampaging success in the U.S. and European markets, but fatigue may be setting in for those in the Asian market. Some of Asia’s most influential cities are beginning to show signs of iPhone fatigue, especially as a new generation of consumers, who have grown up steeped in technology, begin to show less interest in the popular mobile device. Consumers in both Singapore and Hong Kong are beginning to look for alternatives to Apple, which may have a dramatic impact on the company’s future.

Apple continues focus on mobile world

Apple has seen remarkable success in its mobile ventures and has adopted a very strict focus on the mobile world in general. The introduction of the iPhone solidified the company’s hold on the mobile space. As the years have gone by, the company has introduced several new iterations of the iPhone, each featuring new technology and services that Apple believed to be ideal for consumers. The company has also entered into the tablet market with the iPad, a venture that has also proven to be rampantly successful.

Market share dropping quickly in Singapore

While Apple has enjoyed the worldwide success of its various mobile products, its grasp on the Asian market is beginning to loosen. This is due to a number of factors, including iPhone fatigue, and the desire that many consumers are showing for other brands, particularly those from Samsung. According to StatCounter, a traffic measuring service that collects data from more than 3 million websites, Apple’s share of mobile devices in Singapore dropped significantly in 2012. StatCounter shows that in this month alone, Apple’s market share dropped by 50%.

Consumers in Hong Kong and elsewhere show favor for Android

Similar results are being seen in Hong Kong. Approximately 30% of all mobile devices therein come from Apple. In both markets, the Android platform is picking up much of the slack. This may be due to the fact that some of the latest Android devices include NFC technology, which allows for a wide range of new services, including mobile commerce, that are absent from t he iOS platform.

Many companies are adopting this close range connectivity tech for new and surprising reasons.

Although NFC technology has been receiving the largest amount of attention due to the many massive attempts being made to introduce it to the mobile payments sphere, companies are also finding a number of other unique and helpful uses.

In fact, it is expected that payments may end up being one of the lesser uses.

At a recent large electronics show, several companies – including the event itself – applied NFC technology in a range of different ways. These chips were unveiled in numerous devices and were used for many different purposes. According to the Broadcom CEO, Scott McGregor, “NFC really simplifies things.” His company is a chipmaker that sees considerable value in this tech. He added that “The most advanced technology is stifled if it’s not easy to use. … NFC plays a very valuable role in simplifying user interfaces for consumer products.”

NFC technology is now being used for everything from payments to coupons, tickets, press releases and other data exchanges.

While the focus is primarily placed on mobile payments through NFC technology that would allow smartphones to be used at a point of sale in order to complete a purchase by tapping the device against a reader, the world isn’t quite there yet. It is still quite rare for point of sale terminals to be equipped with readers, which significantly limits the use of the chips, even among those who would be interested and have enabled smartphones.

However, recently, new consumer electronics are being launched that include NFC technology for whole new reasons. Enabled devices aren’t just smartphones anymore. Instead, they include televisions, speakers, refrigerators, cameras, and even business cards. Panasonic, for example, has added a chip to its rice cookers.

This is considerably expanding the possibilities connected with NFC technology. Clearly, it is not simply a one trick pony, and electronics companies are taking it seriously. Though many still expect that it will soon experience explosive use through smartphones, it is evident that device manufacturers of all kinds intend to try to take advantage of its benefits in many new and exciting ways.