Nationz Faces RFID-SIM Supply Shortage
21st Century Business Herald, 11/02/12
Recent media reports claim that shipments of Chinese information security and telecom chip maker Nationz Technologies' (300077.SZ) RFID-SIM "Mobile Shenzhentong" smart cards have fallen to low levels. A China Mobile (NYSE: CHL; 0941.HK) employee confirmed that there was a shortage of RFID-SIM cards. A Shenzhen Mobile service center employee said that there were not many RFID-SIM cards available for the "Shenzhentong" smart card service, and predicted that cards would run out within two days.
Li Xiaofeng, office director for the People's Bank of China (PBoC) IC card steering group, revealed recently that standard drafters have settled upon 13.56 MHz for China's contactless mobile payment standard. Industry analysts say the decision could be a "fatal blow" to Nationz, which "took the wrong stand" with its 2.4 GHz chips.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "China Adopts 13.56MHz National Contactless Payment Standard" MD 9/26/12 issue.
Keywords: China Mobile wireless contactless payment mobile payment Shenzhen Mobile IC card CHL RFID smart card 0941.HK Nationz 300077.SZ Li Xiaofeng chipmaker SIM card