Oberthur, Gemalto, and G&D Top ABI Research’s NFC Smart Card Competitive Assessment

Oberthur was the highest-ranked vendor in this Competitive Assessment. In terms of market presence, it is second only to Gemalto, but its Implementation score was boosted by it becoming the first smart card vendor to achieve significant wins for eSEs. Oberthur was judged to have a broad portfolio with high-level partnerships allowing it to serve a wide cross-section of applications by enabling a set of end users to utilize NFC. The combination of its level of technical development and product features resulted in it achieving a high score across the Innovation criteria.

Gemalto was ranked second overall by a single point. It has the largest market presence with a portfolio that is very much focused on mass market solutions. This can be detected in its strategy to focus primarily on payments and mobile financial services, with less emphasis on establishing a broader network of partners and products that may be able to better serve other applications. However, it was recognized that Gemalto has led from the front with strong innovation and a well thought-out strategy for its existing NFC portfolio.

G&D was ranked in third position overall, scoring well in both major groups of criteria. It has been an early innovator and proponent of NFC, establishing products to serve its partners and customers as the market has evolved. Its strong partnership and enablement strategy helped to boost its score to the third highest for Implementation. G&D’s strategy of combining OTA capabilities, software, and TSM and wallet platforms, was recognized in its score for the Innovation criteria.

Practice director, John Devlin, commented, “Last year we saw the first commercial moves by leading smart card vendors into the embedded secure element space. 2012 was the year when the NFC market began to open up—in terms of devices featuring NFC and of the supplier base. NFC is important for smart card vendors as it can act as a springboard for the development of new revenue streams, such as software platforms, SIM/device/subscription management, as well as mobile wallets, and TSM services.”

These findings are part of ABI Research’s NFC Research Service.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 70+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.