A company that supplies biometrics technology for smartphones has just received an order for 3.1m units for the Asian market.
Fingerprint Cards will supply the order in August and September 2013, with its products set to be used in the production of tablets and smartphones for the Japanese market.
The technology can be used to identify a phone’s user to unlock the device as well as perform mobile banking transactions.
The company, which licenses its biometrics algorithms from Precise Biometrics, had its swipe sensor embedded in the back of a new Fujitsu smartphone, the Disney-branded F-07E Android device.
Fingerprint Cards CEO Johan Carlström said: "Earlier this week, we announced our first mobile phone launch ever, in Japan.
"This new order from our partner CrucialTec targets the Japanese market, but also the initial ramp for other additional launches in other Asian markets."
Carlström had already predicted 2013 would see "multiple launches" in Japan and Asia, and said about the Fujitsu phone launch: "Fujitsu and DoCoMo are the world’s most experienced users of finger sensors. It gives me great pleasure to see the launch of the first smartphone using FPC’s swipe sensor technology in this demanding market."
Gartner predicts mobile payments will amount to $235bn this year, an increase of 44% on 2012, while global mobile transactions will grow by an average of 35% a year until 2017.
The market value of fingerprint systems is expected to triple by 2015 to $15bn, according to industry analysts.
