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Near Field Communication and all contactless technology

NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight ­– In what may be a response to the proposed tie-up between Qualcomm and NXP Semiconductors, STMicroelectronics has announced that it is “cooperating” with Taiwan-based MediaTek, the No. 2 supplier of processor chips for smartphones, to integrate its NFC technology into MediaTek reference designs.

NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – European Union antitrust regulators have launched an in-depth review of Qualcomm’s planned $47 billion acquisition of NXP Semiconductors, the largest supplier of NFC controllers and secure elements globally.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – Seeking to expand its presence in such highly anticipated growth markets as the Internet of Things and intelligent cars, Qualcomm made good on earlier reported plans to buy Netherlands-based chip maker NXP Semiconductors, today announcing an all-cash deal worth $38.5 billion for NXP’s shares and total $47 billion including debt.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight –  If a planned acquisition by Qualcomm of NXP Semiconductors, as reported, were to go through, it would not affect supplies of NFC chips to smartphone makers using other processor chips, said an expert.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – Qualcomm, the largest supplier of processor chips for mobile phones globally, has made a deal to integrate NFC technology from NXP Semiconductors for its reference designs for OEMs featuring its Snapdragon processors.

NFC Times Exclusive – Mohamed Awad, who formerly headed Broadcom’s NFC business, has returned to oversee the program, among other duties, as Broadcom looks to reinvigorate a progra

Pairing of home and office devices and appliances via Wi-Fi has taken a step forward with updated NFC handover specifications from two trade organizations, the NFC Forum and the Wi-Fi Alliance.

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.

While not a replacement for the embedded chip or other secure elements in NFC phones, the trusted execution environment on ARM-based smartphone processors can complement security of NFC applications, noted U.S.-based Qualcomm.

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.