Big fingerprint sensor contracts from in and out of Asia signed
A pair of fingerprint sensor makers are reporting sizable – and in one case – profit-making contracts.
Neither Next Biometrics nor Fingerprint Cards are saying who placed the orders, and Fingerprint Cards is not saying much of anything. What news there is encouraging for biometric ID players.
Sweden-based Fingerprint Cards says it has received an order for modules valued at more than $1 million. The buyer, in access/Internet of things sector, is based somewhere other than Asia. That is a large and diverse sector, but all Fingerprint Cards would do is list several objects on the market that fall into it.
In fact, it is the company’s largest fingerprint sensor module order outside Asia, another encouraging sign for the industry.
Meanwhile, Norway-based Next is boasting about a multi-year contract, this one with an Asian distributor selling to “five of the largest and most prestigious fingerprint sensor customers” on the continent, according to the company.
If Next climbs out of the red this fiscal year, it will be because of this preferred-supplier contract for its FAP20 sensors.
The biometric sensors will be used as replacements for older sensors already in the market.
In a statement, Next Biometrics CEO Peter Heuman said, “This contract can be the most important to date, in our company history, and will be key in lifting us to profitability.”
The core contract is for three years and is valued at a total of NOK 110 million (US$10 million) to NOK 250 million ($22.8 million). The distributor is not contractually obligated to hit that minimum, but Next has guaranteed to a production capacity reserve of up to the maximum figure.
That means it could be left holding unsold goods if the global economy turns darker.
The contract cannot be terminated earlier, but if it holds for three years, there is an automatic two-year extension of the same terms.
Article Topics
biometrics | Fingerprint Cards | fingerprint sensors | Next Biometrics | stocks
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