14 March 2011

From UK’s Independent

No NFC for iPhone 5. Too many architecture considerations.. (previous post iPhone Twist) So while their patents clearly indicate NFC is in their plans.. they have not been able to coordinate all of the design into their iPhone 5 program (from hardware through software and apps).

 Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities  and I have both been predicting NFC, but we are obviously wrong.  The coordination necessary to bring about this change is tremendous. Vertical integration has its advantages in quality and control, but centralized control also prohibits distributed decision making. This is where closed platforms fail (Apple).

Just take a look at the NFC patent portfolios of some of the companies aligned to Google/Andoid (previous post). The Android platform is much more loosely controlled, which provides for distributed innovation and investment.

Make no doubt that NFC will come to iPhone, it just didn’t make the iPhone 5. This is good news for device fidelity.. and great news for Google. Apple may not be able to recover from this one. The iPhone provides tremendous consumer value as a handset and media player. But NFC will be the driving force behind many new value propositions, and investments are being made today.

More to come tomorrow.