NXP Semiconductors, as expected, reported a slowdown in revenue growth in 2013 for NFC, but the chip maker expressed optimism that its NFC business would pick up again around the middle of 2014.
CEO Rick Clemmer, in reviewing the company's fourth quarter and year-end financial results late last week, acknowledged a “slow year” for NFC, based largely on losing the business for Samsung’s flagship phone, the Galaxy S4, in 2013, after having supplied NFC technology for the two previous Samsung flagships. As NFC Times has reported, winning back Samsung’s forthcoming flagship, the Galaxy S5, is a key opportunity for NXP.
The Netherlands-based chip maker, as usual, did not break out detailed figures for its NFC business in 2013, though it's likely that unit shipments and perhaps even NFC sales actually increased for the full year of 2013, since NXP retained NFC chip supply contracts for many other Android models, including some Samsung phones. NFC sales were probably down in the fourth quarter, however.