NEXT Biometrics has issued an update for the second half of 2015, looking ahead to the new year. In a letter to investors, company CEO Tore Etholm-Idsoe indicated that NEXT will be focusing on the smart card market in 2016, where there is a demand for cost-effective and reliable fingerprint sensors.
The letter also detailed the H2 accomplishments of NEXT, which were also published in a press release which lists the following excerpted bullet points:
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Launch of NEXT’s first tier-1 customer, Dell Inc.
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Product offering enhanced by the new ultrathin and bezel-free modules.
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Financing of future growth secured through a private placement of 120 million Norwegian Krone ($14.5 million USD).
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Termination of a significant royalty agreement with inventor Ngoc Minh Dinh.
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Transfer of NEXT shares from Oslo Axess to Oslo Stock Exchange (Oslo Børs), and
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Major advances within the NEXT smartcard project, targeting the first credible solution for a vast world market.
The press release states that NEXT Biometrics is targeting non-smartphone markets, including the aforementioned smart card market as well as notebooks and “traditional and new NEXT-enabled segments.”
On the last of those listed markets, Etholm-Idsoe commented: “Within the NEXT-Enabled segment we have seen a continued and steady growth of new leads from quality players planning launch of exciting new concepts. A number of these with 7-digit annual volume potential. The company will continue to work actively to further enhance its product offering within this major opportunity segment.”
He continued: “Within the Traditional markets the target is to replace existing suppliers of large and costly silicon area sensors or big and bulky optical sensors with our high performance low cost sensors. Some key players have already made the move, some are in sampling stage and yet others will follow in 2016. With the launch of Dell products in October, NEXT sensors are successfully implemented in products from one of the top 3 world manufacturers of Notebooks and further wins are targeted.”
The H2 update also includes mention of The Madrid Report – a third party study on the efficacy of fingerprint sensors in relation to their size, which was initiated by NEXT – as well as the recent accomplishment of becoming listed on the Oslo Børs with the symbol “NEXT”.
Coming to the end of 2015, NEXT says that it has 55 employees, half of which are located at its Seattle office. The company asserts that it will continue to expand going forward, hiring more staff in research and development, sales and operations, with a significant portion of this in service of NEXT’s focus on smart cards. To read NEXT Biometrics’ full H2 2015 update you can download it from the the company website.
(Originally posted on FindBiometrics)
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