BRIEF: The iPhone X’s Outsized Impact

Since its announcement in September, the iPhone X has generated a lot of buzz, much of it of an anxious variety. It wasn’t clear if consumers would respond to the redesign – the most substantial since the original iPhone’s debut a decade ago – not to mention its thousand-dollar price tag. And in the mobile industry, it wasn’t clear how Apple’s decision to abandon the fingerprint scanning technology that it pioneered, in favor of a new infrared facial recognition system, would impact consumers’ expectations. With the iPhone X having just hit store shelves on November 3rd, it’s probably still too early to definitely address these questions. But it is clear that the device has made a big impact.

Here’s how:

The mobile industry is adapting – fast:

iPhone X Success Signals Sea Change for Mobile Industry

FPC’s Q3 Report Shows Face ID’s Impact

Touch ID Out, Face ID In On All 2018 iPhones: KGI Analyst

Third parties are already embracing Face ID for authentication in their own apps:

Pramati Builds Face ID Support Into Fingerprint Authentication App, Citing ‘Irreversible Paradigm Shift’

A Major Bank Has Already Embraced Face ID for Mobile Login

Meanwhile, Face ID seems to be a hit, but there are still concerns about security:

Hackers Announce Spoofing ‘Proof of Concept’ for Face ID

Reviewers Get a Look at the iPhone X, and Face ID Gets a Look at Them

Report Claims Apple ‘Relaxed’ Face ID Specs to Speed Production

… And Apple’s singular reliance on Face ID may be spurring competitors to champion other modalities:

Synaptics Fingerprint Sensor Tech To See In-Display Deployment This Year

US-China Trade Agreement’s MoU’s Could Funnel In-Display Biometric Tech to Mobile Brands