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Near Field Communication and all contactless technology

NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – Shares in France-based vendor Gemalto fell sharply today as it issued warnings before markets opened that its revenue and profit would badly miss projections this year.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – NXP Semiconductors reported growth in its Secure Connected Devices unit, which includes its NFC chips and secure elements, as the Netherlands-based chip maker is benefitting from the rollout of mobile payments services by smartphone OEMs and renewed interest in NFC transit ticketing in China.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – On Track Innovations CEO Shlomi Cohen sought to reassure investors that the company he took over nine months ago is more competitive and is moving toward profitability, though he declines to predict when it will turn its first yearly profit since its founding in 1990.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – Germany-based Giesecke & Devrient turned around its financial results in 2015, including its money-losing banking and SIM card unit, thanks mainly to restructuring and higher shipments of EMV bank cards to China and the U.S., the privately held company disclosed Tuesday. 

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – Six months after taking the helm of Israel-based On Track Innovations, CEO Shlomi Cohen is seeking to convince investors he can turn around the contactless reader and NFC vendor, which has been struggling despite greater global demand for the company’s main product, contactless readers.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – Although reporting positive overall results for 2015, France-based Gemalto today said SIM revenue fell by 17% and mobile-financial services revenue dropped by 8% for the year, both of which it blamed at least in part on the closing of the U.S. Softcard joint venture last year.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – Inside Secure, once a supplier of NFC controllers, is also exiting the market for NFC embedded secure elements, a product for which it never gained any traction. But the France-based vendor says it will continue to supply security for HCE payments apps.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – Israel-based On Track Innovations has announced a partnership with an undisclosed global provider of magnetic card readers whose products are used in financial self-service terminals, such as ATMs, but the deal has not yet had a substantial impact on OTI's share price, which is trading near historic lows.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – The new leadership at U.S-based Identiv focused primarily on its premises and identity products, particularly its new partnerships with Cisco, and mentioned its transponder business only briefly, without direct reference to NFC, in its most recent earnings call.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – Apple Pay is proving to be a tough act to follow for NXP Semiconductors, with the Netherlands-based chip maker projecting lower sales next quarter for the business unit that includes its NFC chips, as part of an overall revenue decline for the vendor, which NXP largely blames on the Chinese market.