1) Sourcing and producing the chips without anything slipping would be hard and we've seen no slips
2) Nothing we've seen in iOs 8 suggests any NFC chip is coming
3) Apple already invested too heavily in iBeacon. Payments at distance in store using iBeacon & iTunes makes more sense than NFC payments.
4) They can expand iTunes payments using ibeacon beyond Apple stores into retail stores and integrate directly into retail purchasing systems. No need for NFC chips or NFC terminals in stores.
5) There simply are not many NFC enabled terminals in retail stores which makes the technology dead on arrival for in store purchases. Apple never releases until the market is ready to sustain the technology. They've seen Google try and fail at this already (several times over) with Google Wallet.
6) It will pit them against AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile (again) who have ISIS mobile wallet already. I doubt they want to start another fight there.
> There simply are not many NFC enabled terminals in retail stores which makes the technology dead on arrival for in store purchases.<p>Retailers in many cities in Asia already are using wireless card payment. NFC is the defacto standard used. I can see Apple including NFC out of no choice if it wants to enter these markets for its mobile payment. Also there is suggestion that iWatch will communicate with iPhone 6 via NFC instead of bluetooth. Also there is an NFC chip in rumoured leaked iPhone 6 parts photo.