Japan to allow fingerprint authorization for visitors

TOKYO -- Visitors to Japan will be able to use their fingerprints instead of passports to identify themselves at some hotels thanks to technology introduced by a Tokyo venture.

With financial help from the economy and industry ministry, Liquid will start offering a fingerprint-based authorization system by March in a bid to increase travel convenience. Some 80 hotels and Japanese-style inns in major tourist spots like Hakone and Atami, two hot spring resort areas not far from Tokyo, will be among the first to install the system. More inns and hotels will follow.

The ministry will cover part of the installation costs.

Visitors to Japan can register their fingerprints along with their passport information in their home countries or at registration spots at airports or elsewhere in Japan. Foreign travelers can then identify themselves at a hotel's front desk by waving their fingers over a contactless device.

Japanese law requires hotels to check and keep copies of foreigners' passports. But the economy ministry and the ministry of labor have decided to treat "digital passports" as legitimate alternatives.

(Nikkei)

All Smartphones Shipped In 2018 Will Feature Biometric

Acuity is doubling down on its previous predictions about the rise of mobile biometrics. In a new report, the market research firm reaffirms that biometric technology will be in 100 percent of smartphones in 2018, and also looks to growth in other biometric markets.

Acuity estimates that about 750 million smartphones featuring biometric technology are currently in use, accounting for over 30 percent of the overall installed base. By 2018, all shipments of smartphones will feature the technology, and biometrics will proliferate to 100 percent of the installed base by 2020. Meanwhile, these years will see the rise of mPayments, with almost $7 billion in transactions approved via biometric authentication expected annually by 2020.

The report also highlights the rise of biometrics in e-passports, estimating that 92 percent of all passports around the world will feature RFID technology and biometrics by the end of the forecast period. Moreover, national electronic IDs will rise from 611 million this year to 786 by 2020, and it’s fair to expect biometric data to be incorporated in a large swath of those documents.

It’s all part of a larger “proliferation of biometric devices for consumer, enterprise, and civil use,” says Acuity Market Intelligence Principal Maxine Most, adding that biometric technology is finding applications not only in digital payments, but also “enterprise and logical access control, home security, border control, the Internet of Things, and civil identity programs as well.”

–

July 22, 2016 – by Alex Perala

FPCs Q2 profit beats expectations, continues to gain market share

(Reuters) - Swedish biometric firm Fingerprint Cards (FPC) on Friday reported second-quarter operating profit above expectations and said it sees more market share gains as its major Chinese customers contine to capture market share.

* Q2 operating profit rose to SEK 709.7 million ($82.6 million) from 65.5 million a year ago

* Says revenue guidance for 2016 has been narrowed to SEK 7,200 to 8,300 million from previously SEK 7,000-8,500 million

* Guidance is based on an SEK/USD exchange rate of 8.40 compared to 8.30 which was used at Q1 report

* Says revenues in second half of year are expected to grow sequentially in view of strong growth in number of launched smartphones integrating our sensors and in particular in view of Q4's relative share of smartphone market on an annual basis

* Q2 revenues were SEK 1,666 million, up from 445 million in the year-ago period

Avanza intervjuar Jörgen Lantto på Fingerprint Cards

Intervju med Lantto

SHB höjer riktkursen till 125 kr

STOCKHOLM (Direkt) Handelsbanken Capital Markets höjer riktkursen för Fingerprint till 125 kronor från 120 kronor. Rekommendationen köp upprepas.

Det framgår av en analys.

Börsredaktionen +46 8 5191 7910
Nyhetsbyrån Direkt

Gym i Japan

Vilde forventninger til Fingerprint: Overskuddet skal stige 700 pct

Havde du købt for 1.000 kr. Fingerprint-aktier i 2012, var de over en kvart million værd i dag. På fredag fremlægger selskabet sit regnskab, og forventningerne er høje.

Når Fingerprint Cards fredag fremlægger sit regnskab for 2. kvartal, skal overskuddet stige med 700 pct. blot for ikke at skuffe analytikerne. Det viser en rundspørge blandt investeringsbanker, som Bloomberg har foretaget.

De syv analytikere, der dækker Fingerprint Cards, forventer i gennemsnit et overskud på 418 mio. kr. I samme periode året før endte overskuddet på 51,5 mio. kr., og så sent som i 2014 kørte selskabet med underskud.

Omsætningen forventes at lande på 1,37 mia. kr. Det er ca. 1 mia. kr. mere, end hvad Fingerprint Cards præsterede i andet kvartal af 2015 - en forventet stigning på 290 pct.

Fingerprint Cards opnåede verdensberømmelse, da selskabets aktiekurs steg over 2.000 pct. fra januar til december 2015. Siden er det blevet en folkeaktie - ikke blot i Sverige, men også herhjemme. Blandt de danske private investorer, der handler hos børsmægleren Nordnet, er Fingerprint Cards den syvende mest handlede aktie foran danske selskaber som Pandora, Nordea og DSV.

I år har aktien været et dyrt bekendskab for investorerne, hvor den er faldet med 13,5 pct, selv efter at kursen den seneste måned er steget med knap 30 pct.

Var man i juli 2012 dukket op på den svenske børs med 100 mio. kr., kunne man havde købt rub og stub. I dag skal du have godt 26 mia. kr. med, hvis du vil have nøglerne til hovedkvarteret i Gøteborg.

Og for os almindeligt dødelige kunne en investering på 1.000 kr. været blevet over en kvart million værd i dag.

Väntat rörelseresultat på 681 miljoner kr

STOCKHOLM (Direkt) Fingerprint Cards väntas presentera ett rörelseresultat på 681 miljoner kronor för årets andra kvartal enligt en sammanställning av sju analytikers prognoser som SME Direkt gjort. Det kan jämföras med 65,4 miljoner kronor motsvarande kvartal i fjol.

Av de analytiker som deltagit i SME Direkts sammanställning har två stycken rekommendationen köp eller öka för aktien, medan en har behåll eller avvakta och tre sälj eller minska. En analytiker har inte uppgivit någon rekommendation.

Rapporten väntas den 22 juli klockan 7.00.

Deltagare: ABG Sundal Collier, Arctic Securities, Carnegie, Handelsbanken Capital Markets, Pareto Securities, Redeye och UBS.

Xiao Hu
SME Direkt

Qualcomm may face a 1 trillion won fine in Korea

After 17 months of investigation, the Fair Trade Commission of South Korea is set to fine Qualcomm up to 1 trillion won (around $900 million) for abusing its patents. 

The first verdict is slated to be revealed on the 20th of this month. If Qualcomm is found guilty, this will be the largest fine that the FTC has ever issued.

According to an FTC official, Qualcomm has apparently charged Korean manufacturers excessively high licensing fees, which violates the principle of fair market competition.

“Qualcomm has been collecting royalty fees from mobile phone manufacturers based on certain fixed rates from the suggested price of a mobile device,” said an FTC official speaking to The Korea Times.

 “Qualcomm should have sought royalty fees based on each chipset.” Basically, instead of collecting licensing fees only based on its CDMA-related patents, Qualcomm allegedly calculated the fees on the basis of the wholesale prices of the phones themselves.

It is reported that Qualcomm has unfairly collected 1 trillion won from Korean manufacturers like Samsung and LG each year. If Qualcomm is indeed guilty, it might result in somewhat of a controversy as Korea accounts for roughly 16 percent of Qualcomm’s sales last year. If you can recall, Qualcomm faced a similar fine in China last year.

Design win för Idex

STOCKHOLM (Direkt) Det norska biometribolaget Idex, som konkurrerar med Fingerprint Cards, uppger att ytterligare en ledande, så kallad "tier-one", smartphonekund har valt bolagets touchsensor Cardinal. 

Det framgår av ett pressmeddelande. 

Denna så kallade design win, som är Idex andra med en ledande smartphonetillverkare, tillsammans med Idex skifte mot en mer direkt försäljningssatsning bidrar till en växande pipeline av kundmöjligheter, uppger bolaget. 

"…vi räknar med att säkra ytterligare design wins för vår familj av sensorer under de kommande kvartalen", skriver Idex vd Hemant Mardia i pressmeddelandet. 

Den 2 juni 2016 meddelade Idex sin första design win, då offentliggjordes att bolagets sensor Cardinal Q var integrerad i LG:s Stylus 2 Plus.

Bekräftade Modeller med FPC Touch Sensor"

FPC vs Spotify