The iPhone 5 launch on Wednesday, Sept. 12, is sure to be the most important event for tech investors this year. The Motley Fool will be hosting a live chat where our top tech analysts will answer your questions and break down what the announcement means for Apple and tech investors everywhere. Be sure to swing by Fool.com at 12:45 p.m. ET this Wednesday for all your coverage of Apple's next big announcement.

Sept 12.

That's the date the tech world will be watching as Apple (NAS: AAPL) unveils its iPhone 5 to the world. That puts us at T-minus two days to the event, so investors need to make sure they're fully prepared for the opportunities that lie within.

Source: The Loop.

This year's model will put up massive unit sales figures. Some estimates range as high as 250 million units throughout the product's life cycle, which would more than double lifetime unit sales to date. For numerous component suppliers, that spells profits as they ride on Apple's coattails to riches. Leading up to the event, I'm going to outline a handful of companies that I think will be winners of the iPhone 5.

Near-field communications: NXP Semiconductor
If Apple were to include near-field communications, or NFC, support, it would probably tap market leader NXP Semiconductor (NAS: NXPI) as the supplier. NFC has been heralded in recent years for its potential in mobile payments, and Google (NAS: GOOG) relies on it for its Google Wallet service.

Thus far, Apple has yet to include NFC in any of its devices, but a recent round of leaked images showed a mystery component that many thought matched NFC chips made by NXP. However, the highly technical sleuths over at AnandTech considered the possibility and concluded that NFC support is unlikely.

There are more reasons I don't think Apple will use NFC for whatever mobile-payment scheme it has up its sleeve, and you can read more in the comprehensive iPhone 5 report I've put together as a bonus for subscribers of The Motley Fool's premium research service all on Apple. The complete report is available at no additional cost when you sign up, so be sure to grab your copy today and position yourself to profit on the most important smartphone launch of the year.