Samsung rumored to be developing its own fingerprint sensors

Samsung is rumored to be developing its own fingerprint reader sensors to be incorporated into its mobile devices, according to a report by Android Headlines.

With the increasing number of Android smartphones incorporating a fingerprint sensor, the market is largely dominated by Sweden’s FPC and the US’ Synaptics.

Samsung currently manufactures several components including the Exynos chipsets, some of which are licensed to other smartphone vendors but the majority are used in Samsung’s own smartphones.

In addition to the Exynose chipsets, Samsung controls almost the entire AMOLED market and most of its own smartphones use the technology, as well as makes its own memory chips, which are also used in many smartphones.

By taking control of other components of a smartphone, such as fingerprint sensors, would help the company maintain quality control, maintain manufacturing prices and have a better grasp on potential supply issues or other impending problems.

According to industry experts, Samsung Electronics LSI division is believed to have been developing fingerprint reader sensors since 2015 with the products being close to commercial deployment.

This could mean that we might soon see Samsung-built fingerprint sensor used in Samsung Galaxy Android-powered smartphones.

Several other South Korean businesses are also developing fingerprint sensors. Android Headlines emphasizes that Samsung has yet to confirm it is investing in building its own fingerprint sensors.

In order for Samsung to manufacture its own fingerprint sensors, the company will need to develop the controller chip, use Precise Biometrics software, and use CMOS image sensors.

Previously reported, Samsung was recently granted a patent in South Korea relating to a fingerprint scanner with swipe functionality.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  fingerprint sensors  |  mobile device  |  research and development  |  Samsung  |  South Korea