Huawei to Use Qualcomm In-Display Fingerprint Sensor in New Flagship Phone: Report

Huawei is planning to use in-display fingerprint sensor technology from Qualcomm in a new flagship smartphone slated for release late in the third quarter or early in the fourth, according to a new Digitimes report.

Citing unnamed sources, the report asserts that the in-display sensor will arrive in the Mate 11, which could alternatively be called the Mate 20, depending on a change in Huawei’s branding strategy. The in-display feature “is expected to serve as a new sales driver for Huawei”, according to the report.

Qualcomm first announced its in-display fingerprint sensor technology at last June’s Mobile World Congress Shanghai, asserting at the time that it could scan through 1200 µm of an OLED display or 800 µm of cover glass, and that it can operate underwater. According to the Huawei Mate 11 report, Qualcomm’s module is only 0.44mm thick.

Despite these advantages, the solution hasn’t yet found it way into a commercial device, with the Huawei Mate 11 presumably to be its first deployment. Vivo, meanwhile, won the mobile industry’s race to in-display sensor technology earlier this year with its X20 UD, and a sequel device featuring the technology is about to launch as well.

News – or speculation, anyway – about Huawei’s plans to incorporate the technology arrives amid reports that Samsung is also considering an in-display fingerprint sensor for its upcoming Note 9 smartphone, suggesting that this could be a major trend for 2018’s mobile market.

Sources: Digitimes, Android Headlines, GSMArena