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Near Field Communication and all contactless technology

NXP Semiconductors shipped 125 million NFC chips in 2012 for smartphones and tablets, the chip maker told NFC Times, beating projections for the NFC device market.

Google has upgraded its membership in the NFC Forum standards and trade group to the top rung, sponsor member, giving the search giant a seat on the 13-member board.

NXP Semiconductors said today it generated about $70 million in sales from its NFC chips and secure elements in the fourth quarter of 2012, up 20% over the previous quarter and three times the chip maker’s NFC revenue in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Taiwan-based MediaTek, a major supplier of processor chips for smartphones, has announced its first NFC chip, which it says could support three secure elements at one time.

The 10-year anniversary of the official birth of NFC came and went quietly on Sept. 5, 2012.

U.S.-based chip maker Broadcom, whose Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combination wireless chips are found in such popular smartphones as the Samsung Galaxy S III and Apple iPhone 5, has announced NFC support for one of its next wireless combo chips.

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.

U.S.-based Qualcomm has joined the NFC Forum as a sponsor member, which gives it a seat on the board of the standards and trade organization.

NFC chip supplier Inside Secure has introduced its first embedded secure element, a key product that it hopes will help it stay competitive with much larger rivals.

NXP Semiconductors said it had shipped 100 million NFC chips as of last month and confirmed it is supplying chips to eight of the top 10 smartphone makers.