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Nokia has quietly pulled the plug on its 6216 NFC phone, which was to be its first commercial model supporting a standard connection to the SIM card for storing payment and ticketing applications, NFC Times has learned.

Nokia, which had still been promising the NFC handset late last year, notified some operators and development partners within the past few weeks that it would not put the phone into production, sources told NFC Times.

The 6216 had originally been promised in the third quarter of 2009, but delays had set back the commercial launch to early 2010. But by that time, demand had dried up from mobile operators, which had turned their attention to more stylish NFC models supporting the single-wire protocol connection to the SIM, such as the Samsung S5230. The NFC version of the touch-screen S5230, known as the Star or Player One in some markets, is due out this spring.

Operators in France, Spain and Italy, among others, passed on the Nokia 6216 for their trials or other commercial projects planned for the first or second quarters of this year. The 6216, a mid-tier 3G feature phone, fared no better in Asia.

“It’s not sexy enough, and it’s expensive,” one handset specialist told NFC Times.

Gerhard Romen, director of mobile financial services at Nokia, declined to confirm the demise of the 6216 directly, but did indicate the orders were not there.

It is about market pickup; it is about market pull,” he told NFC Times. “The key here is for the industry to move. If you’re operators, and you want to build the model on payment, I haven’t seen anyone shouting for (more contactless) POS terminals…Tell me where that is rolling out?”

Although Nokia was an early backer of NFC and co-founded the NFC Forum in 2004 with the technology’s creators, Philips Semiconductors and Sony Corp., the cancellation of the 6216 will no doubt fuel doubts about Nokia’s continued commitment to NFC. Nokia had earlier introduced four NFC models, the 3220 and companion 5140, the 6131 and the 3G 6216. These phones have accounted for more than half of NFC trials and other NFC projects held since 2005, NFC Times estimates, (see Project Database) and were some of the few available for sale.

“Nobody gives you credit if you carry the flag,” said Romen, who noted Nokia remained committed to NFC.

At least one Nokia executive said late last year the handset maker was “anticipating multiple NFC-enabled devices” by 2012. Some will be low-end models, but others will be smartphones running on the Symbian 3 operating system. Another Nokia source said one or more Nokia NFC phones would be out this year. These phones, when introduced, might support the single-wire protocol, though details were not available.

Nokia had announced plans for the 6216 last April, bowing to pressure from mobile operators, especially in Europe, for a phone supporting the standard single-wire protocol connection between the SIM and NFC chips. Its other NFC phones sported an embedded secure chip for applications. Many operators want the secure chip in the SIM cards they issue to play host to the NFC payment and ticketing applications. They believe this will help them avoid losing control of their customers as NFC gets rolled out.