Analyst says NFC iPhone rumor was just speculation

Envisioneering Group analyst Richard Doherty said on Wednesday that Bloomberg had distorted his talk of a possible NFC-aware iPhone. While he maintained that he has Chinese sources working on iPhone parts, he told NFC Times that these sources had only talked to app developers who speculated NFC wireless was coming. The business publication "overplayed" the speculation and treated it as fact even urged to correct the tone, Doherty alleged.

The concept of in-store terminals was also just a reference to sample devices third parties had given to Apple to use. The original article contended that Apple was making its own terminals to let phone owners buy real-world goods by swiping the phone close.

Claims by the same author of a Google NFC payment system were also cast into doubt, but here by separate sources. Google was less concerned about starting its own service as enabling others, they said. Supporting evidence for this may have come from Google recently expanding NFC support in Android to widen what apps can do.

Multiple analysts and unofficial sources, including Doherty, are still convinced Apple will build an NFC iPhone 5. However, few have talked of a universal NFC payment system. Speculation has suggested that it would instead use any proprietary support for syncing with Macs and peripherals as well as follow universal payment standards like Ibis in the US and FeliCa in Japan.

By Electronista Staff