Apple's model is to keep it exclusive where they can. There have been a few lawsuits over this model. They keep it exclusive as they get a % of the activation fee for each phone. There are rumoured to be a fairly large amount of devices each month which Apple are missing out on revenue due to them being hacked. I know this hit Apple's bottom line in their last company statements.
As for the iPhone and NFC. Probably still a little way away. But it is definitely a possibility for an iPhone v2.0.
KYC Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held