NFC Times Exclusive Insight – The decision by major Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi to include embedded secure elements in its new flagship, the Mi 5, may signal that other Chinese OEMs will also back the technology for their devices, but those embedded chips would mainly be targeted at transit ticketing applications, not payment like Apple Pay.
While the supplier of the chip to Xiaomi for its latest handset, NXP Semiconductors, says there are more embedded chips to come with launches by other major OEMs in China, there is no clear evidence yet that Android device makers, including Samsung, have any intention of following Apple by embedding secure elements widely worldwide, or even in China.
Samsung, which supports HCE with Samsung Pay and doesn’t need a secure element in most countries, will probably take a market-by-market approach to supporting embedded chips. It will definitely embed chips in markets where banks require them, such as Spain and probably some other European countries, but probably not in the U.S. This applies to Samsung’s new flagship, the Galaxy S7, as well as its mid-tier Galaxy A- series smartphones.
