The next of Asus’ ZenFone smartphones will likely launch in May or June and will be the first mobile device from the company to sport a fingerprint sensor, according to new reports.
The fingerprint sensor isn’t merely a rumor, however; Asus CEO Jerry Shen announced it earlier this year. It’s evidently part of a move to keep up with the rest of the smartphone industry, which has broadly embraced biometric fingerprint sensors in the upper price ranges over the past year, and is now seeing even low-price smartphones employ the technology. Given that the ZenFone 2 was a mid-range device, the next iteration is almost obligated to feature a fingerprint sensor, especially as that kind of biometric authentication becomes standard practice in mPayments.
It isn’t yet clear who will supply the technology for the fingerprint sensor. Fingerprint Cards (FPC), using Precise Biometrics algorithm software, has established itself as a leading supplier for OEMs, especially in the Southeast Asia region; but there are other players too, of course, such as the China-based upstart Goodix, and in an expanding market there is plenty of room for these vendors and others to maneuver.
Whatever its provenance, the fingerprint sensor will play a role in helping to move some of the 30 million devices Asus plans to ship next year, many of which will be ZenFone 3 smartphones.
Source: GSMArena
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