Fingerprint Cards annual report focuses on new segments and multimodal biometrics

Fingerprint Cards has published its annual report for 2017, reporting a net profit of over SEK 120 million ($13.5 million), as the company transitions away from its previous focus on capacitive fingerprint sensors for the smartphone market.

While its financial results were down nearly across the board from full-year 2016, when the company had revenues more than twice as high, a gross margin of 48 percent, and more than fifteen times the net profit, it represents Fingerprint Cards’ third consecutive year of net profitability. The company’s head count has also grown from 254 in 2015 to 558 in 2017, so it will be larger than a few years ago even after it makes previously announced cuts to its workforce.

While smartphone sensors are expected to be a smaller portion of Fingerprint Cards’ business going forward, the number of mobile devices launched with its fingerprint sensors increased throughout the year, with 31 devices from 13 OEM customers launched in Q4, including two with multimodal biometrics provided by its ActiveIRIS and fingerprint sensor products.

“Fingerprints’ acquisition of Delta ID in 2017 means we can offer the market multimodal solutions that integrate iris recognition with Fingerprint sensors,” the company writes in its 104-page annual report (PDF). “This acquisition is consistent with Fingerprints’ strategy of expanding from our positioning as the leader in Fingerprint sensors for smartphones, with the objective of being a leading global biometric company.”

The company is also adding facial recognition to its portfolio, as it moves into multimodal solutions. The annual report describes several different markets, such as biometric smartcards, and applications, such as biometric door locks, in which Fingerprint Cards’ core technologies can be applied as it pursues a goal of 10 percent of revenue from new segments in 2018.

Fingerprint Cards CEO Christian Frederikson says in the report that one of the company’s priorities is developing its ultrasound in-display fingerprint sensor, which will scan a user’s fingerprint when placed anywhere on a smartphone screen.

Fingerprint Cards also recently made changes to its executive leadership.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  financial report  |  Fingerprint Cards  |  multimodal biometrics