No In-Display Fingerprint Sensor for Samsung’s Galaxy S9: Report

Samsung’s Galaxy S9 won’t feature an in-display fingerprint sensor, according to a new report.

Citing “local news reports” in Korean media, The Investor asserts that next year’s S9 devices will feature fingerprint sensors embedded on the rear of the devices. The news contradicts speculation from earlier this summer that predicted an in-display implementation for the S9’s fingerprint sensor, perhaps in part because Qualcomm had announced that it had developed the technology for such a component earlier this year, and said that it would be available to OEMs in Q4.

The development would seem to align with the decision of Samsung’s rival, Apple, to abandon fingerprint recognition entirely in favor of its new infrared facial recognition system, a move that seems to have prompted much of the mobile industry to reassess the importance of fingerprint scanning technology in smartphones. Samsung is also in a position to do away with fingerprint scanning on its devices as it has established itself as the pioneer of mobile iris scanning, making it a central feature of this year’s flagship devices. But The Investor cites an unnamed “industry watcher” in explaining that Samsung is not ready to abandon the technology as “many services and platforms run based on the technology.” A desire for multimodal biometric security may also factor in.

As for that elusive in-display fingerprint sensor technology, Samsung is apparently still in hot pursuit, with The Investor maintaining that the technology is likely to appear in Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 device to be released later in 2018 – a prediction that was also recently made by renowned industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities. Meanwhile, a trio of China-based smartphone brands recently signed MOUs with Qualcomm that could see its in-display fingerprint sensor technology materialize in their devices.

Despite the powerful influence of Apple and its Face ID system, at the moment it appears that mobile fingerprint sensor technology will continue its evolution through 2018.

Source: The Investor