Fingerprint sensor market to face eliminations

Cage Chao, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES [Tuesday 20 January 2015]

The number of fingerprint sensor suppliers has risen to above 40 companies, intensifying competition in the market, according to sources at Taiwan-based IC design firms.

A price war will likely be triggered in 2015 and bring pressure on less-competitive players, which may be squeezed out of the market as early as the third quarter, the sources indicated.

Many fingerprint sensor suppliers have chosen to find a strategic partner in order to grab more orders and expand their businesses, for example the partnership between Elan Microelectronics and Startek Engineering, and FocalTech's cooperation with Image Match Design (IMD). FocalTech is also working with IDEX, which has a strong patent portfolio.

With suppliers eager to expand their businesses, prices of fingerprint sensors are likely to fall below US$5 during the latter half of 2015, also the time when companies including Synaptics, Elan, FocalTech and Egis Technology are scheduled to roll out new solutions. Fingerprint sensors are currently priced at as high as US$7-8, according to the sources.