Analysts at Juniper Research, long bullish on the prospects for near-field communications technology, have announced they are slashing their forecasts for global NFC transactions.Their reason: Apple's neglect of the technology in the iPhone 5 has made retailers and brands less confident about the technology's future. This, in turn, is slowing down the roll out of NFC terminals and NFC marketing campaigns, and could lead to a cycle of "NFC indifference", the researchers say.NFC technology enables a customer to wave an NFC-enabled card or phone past a terminal and pay without using a PIN.Despite much speculation over recent years, Apple has not built NFC technology into any iPhone, and the company is now touting its Passbook system as a better alternative. Google has provided for NFC in its Android operating system, but not all Android phones are being enabled for NFC.Juniper had predicted 2017 NFC retail transaction values would reach US$180 billion, but its latest report predicts they will reach just US$110 billion."Apple's decision is a significant blow for the technology," said the report's author, Dr Windsor Holden.