Fingerprint Technology

Fingerprint authentication will become more common on smartphones of all prices as sensors get cheaper, and Google's integration of the technology in the next version of Android will make it much easier for app developers and service providers to make use of them.

Today, fingerprint sensors are mainly available on high-end models from Apple and Samsung Electronics. But that is about to change, according to sensor manufacturers Synaptics and Fingerprint Cards.

Fingerprint Cards has seen a growing interest in its technology from smartphone manufacturers in recent months, as well as a strong increase in orders. As a result, the company has raised its revenue estimate for the year from about 1.5 billion Swedish kronor (US$185 million) to 2.2 billion Swedish kronor.

"This market is really starting to take off," said Jörgen Lantto, CEO at Fingerprint Cards, who anticipates that half of all smartphones sold next year will have the feature.

Fingerprint Cards sensors are already used in the Ascend Mate 7 from Huawei Technologies and Oppo's R7 Plus, which launched in May. Synaptics, which makes the sensor in the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, is equally sure that smartphones with fingerprint sensors will become more popular.