Due to fast growing use of smartphone-based mobile payment services in the China market, both international and domestic vendors, including white-box ones, have adopted fingerprint recognition functions for their smartphones. Consequently, China-based IC design houses are expected to account for up to 30% of global fingerprint sensor shipments in 2016, according to Digitimes Research.
Global fingerprint sensor shipments will increase from about 400 million units in 2015 to over 700 million units in 2016, nearly 300 million units of which will be shipped to the China market, Digitimes Research indicated. Goodix, currently the largest China-based fingerprint sensor design house, shipped 12 million units in 2015 and is expected to ship 200 million units in 2016.
Apple uses internally-developed fingerprint sensors, but other smartphone vendors mostly used to dopt devices developed by Sweden-based Fingerprint Cards AB.
But fast growing demand for fingerprint-recognition-enabled smartphones has boosted demand for inexpensive fingerprint sensing solutions in the China market. Many touch controller ID design houses, including US-based Synaptics, Taiwan-based Elan Microelectronics and FocalTech Systems, and China-based Goodix and Silead, have stepped into the fingerprint sensor sector.
Apple uses sapphire-covered fingerprint sensors. Yield rates for sapphire cover production is low, and production cost is very high. Therefore, many suppliers adopt coating film to cover fingerprint sensors.
Goodix took the initiative to adopt glass-covered fingerprint sensors in October 2015, with glass cover featuring high resistance to scratch and wear, and thereby has seen a quick increase in market share in China. In addition to Goodix, FocalTech and Silead, China-based MicroArray and Chengdu Finger Technology have become competitors in the China fingerprint sensor market.
