Smartphone biometric securitySmartphone biometric security market set to grow five-fold in three years
A new report projects that the market for mobile phone biometrics will grow more than five times in the next three years
A new report projects thatthe market for mobile phone biometrics will grow more than five times in the next three years.
According to Goode Intelligence, the smart phone market for biometric security products and services, just over $30 million in 2011, will soar to more than $161 million in 2015.
“With over 13 million embedded fingerprint readers already in SMDs around the world, the future looks increasingly bright for the mobile biometric solution industry,” said Alan Goode, the founder of Goode Intelligence and author of the report. “We believe a biometric groundswell is building for Smart Mobile Devices. The market is currently slow; but pressure is growing.”
The report cites several factors as key drivers for growth including the fact that smart phones have replaced computers as the personal device of choice with sales of phones now outpacing computers; mobile phones are still relatively insecure and demand for applications and tools to secure them will likely increase; and existing security measures for mobile phones are outdated and in need of replacement.
“The conditions are ripe for rapid change; for biometrics to move from an ‘interesting concept’ to a ‘must have’ for all SMDs,” Goode explained. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are turning to mobile biometric solutions to improve ‘light’ authentication techniques and to give them advantages over their competitors. These include Google’s face unlock solution for Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) which, although limited, is a step in the right direction and has generated much publicity; predictions that Google will support voice recognition for Android after details of a 2010 patent were published and Fujitsu’s 2012 entry into the European SMD market is being heavily marketed on its strengths in NFC and its support for mobile biometric security – key models will have embedded fingerprint sensors in them. There is also increasing talk about biometric support for Apple’s next generation iPhone 5.
