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With interest growing again in embedded secure elements in NFC phones to store applications, thanks to Apple Pay, NXP Semiconductors is trying to drive demand for its embedded chips in Android phones by making it easier for service providers to load their applications on the silicon.

NXP Semiconductors reported a big jump in sales from its emerging ID unit in the third quarter, thanks to shipments of NFC chips and secure elements to Apple for the tech giant’s new iPhones.

NFC Times Exclusive: While NXP Semiconductors won the coveted contract to supply NFC chips and secure elements to Apple for its new iPhone models, it has been cut out of the recent business for Samsung Galaxy handsets, including the Note 4.

NFC Times Exclusive: In what is believed to be one of the first uses for NFC booster technology in NFC phones, the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus feature an amplifier chip enabling a unique antenna design by Apple for its Apple Pay service that launched Monday.

NXP Semiconductors said sales in its emerging ID business–mainly made up of its NFC chips–increased by 22% in the second quarter, compared with the first quarter, and CEO Richard Clemmer insisted the chip maker’s secure element business would continue to remain a strong contributor.

U.S.-based Broadcom acknowledged that it lost two major design wins for smartphones, but noted wins in wearables, and the company predicted growth over time for its NFC business.

Netherlands-based chip supplier NXP Semiconductors reported decreased revenue for its emerging ID unit, which includes its NFC mobile transactions business, but alluded to its design win for the Samsung Galaxy S5. The company also remained optimistic about EMV and denied seeing host-card emulation as a threat.

NFC Times Exclusive: Despite a slow year in NFC sales and loss of business for Samsung’s Galaxy S4 flagship, NXP Semiconductors shipped significantly more NFC controllers in 2013 than in 2012 and held onto the top spot among NFC chip suppliers last year over rival Broadcom. With its design win for the Galaxy S5, it appears poised to take the lion's share of business again this year.

NFC Times Exclusive: Samsung Electronics has switched back to an NFC controller chip from NXP Semiconductors for most of the planned shipments of its new flagship, the Galaxy S5, but the phones will not pack NXP’s embedded secure element, NFC Times has learned.

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.