Does Marriott ever give a direct answer to any question? She constantly speaks and writes in broad generalities.
Considering how big players like Google, Apple, PayPal (eBay) and others have been moving quickly to create or buy up NFC related patents, doesn't it make sense they would be knocking on Neomedia's door? Those companies have armies of patent lawyers and engineers who know how to look up existing patents that may have direct or tangential relationships to what they are developing. If Neomedia had any valuable NFC patents, those guys would have already identified them.
Lest we forget, those same big companies have existing and long-term relationships with all the mobile carriers and credit card companies. How many relationships do Marriott and Neomedia have with those companies?
For Marriott to say she does not see a place for NFC in marketing is totally laughable and candidly, insulting to her investors. The mobile wallet is well on the road to happening. I'd be willing to guess that by the end of 2012, you won't see any new smartphones being sold that don't have an NFC chipset in them. Phasing in NFC phones is just a matter of a few years. Does Marriott really believe that all those major players (handset makers, carriers and credit card companies, banks etc) will not be marketing the crap out of NFC?
Once the big players have established the standards and gained critical mass, every brand will be doing everything they can to inform, educate and promote use of NFC via a Mobile Wallet. Credit cards are going to be replaced by mobile wallets. Technology marches on.
For Marriott to opine that NFC won't cannibalize 2D because there is a "cost issue" to enable NFC tags on shelves and packages is naive at best. With massive volumes, costs become negligible. The average supermarket stocks 30-40,000 items. I would guess they have sufficient volumes to lower the costs of NFC tags. Using her logic, Walmart never would have deployed RFID chips to track and restock inventory.
If major retailers can reduce the number of clerks and cash registers, speed up check outs, and make impulse buying easier by deploying NFC tagged merchandise, does anyone really think they won't?
Her comment about not having to be close to something to scan the code vs. near proximity needed for NFC is hilarious. What does that mean? I can scan a 2D code from five feet away vs having to be no further than three feet for NFC? That is somehow a disadvantage? What about going to the trouble of pulling up the scanning app, doing the scan and waiting for a result/connection vs the NFC chip doing it automatically?
And this woman is running the company! What joke.
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