The Real Reason Apple Added NFC to iPhones

The world is waiting for the financial report from Apple due in tomorrow that will reveal how many iPhones sold in Q4 of 2014, with the 6 and 6 Plus on the market.  Early news shows a dramatic increase in sales.  Where in the world is this happening in the greatest numbers?  Japan and Korea, with dramatic sales increases in China as well.

Here is the news on market share in Asia:

http://www.counterpointresearch.com/applepulsenov2014

Here is the graph I captured from that article, with sources cited in the image:

Notice that spike near the end of the year as Apple hits 51% share?

So what is the big deal with NFC and the Asian market?  Unlike in the United States NFC has been quite successful in several Asian markets such as China and Japan.  Asian buyers want two things from their smart phones that Apple was not providing prior to the 6 and 6 Plus models: larger screen size and NFC.

Here is a brief piece on NFC in Asia:

http://www.totalpayments.org/2013/12/09/embracing-power-nfc-asia/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

To further complement the rise in NFC-enabled handsets, "There will also be around 140 companies that use a TSM solution in commercially live NFC mobile wallet services worldwide at the end of 2013, up from 57 at the end of 2012 and the most active region for TSM projects is currently Asia Pacific, followed by Europe, North America and the Middle East.”

Apple Pay may have been a tag-along product as Apple had to provide NFC for the Asian market.  Without that demand would we have seen a very different version of Apple Pay or maybe even none what so ever?  Maybe.

Let's see what tomorrow brings as those iPhone sales figures come in.  One thing I am certain will arrive tomorrow is the Blizzard of '15 aiming right for those of us around Boston, MA.  Stay warm!

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** One more quick article I forgot to include initially.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/risks-rising-for-apple-shares-as-analysts-expect-a-blowout-quarter-161940025.html