Biometric smartphone numbers double as prices drop: Acuity
The number of biometric smartphones on offer has more than doubled over the past 12 months as prices dropped, according to Acuity Market Intelligence. The firm's Biometric Smartphone Update report showed that 346 biometric phones were introduced by 87 smartphone vendors in 2016, up from the 200 available the previous year. Meanwhile, average quarterly prices for smartphones dropped from $849 in 2013 to $277 in 2016.
Acuity Market Intelligence has published its latest ‘Biometric Smartphone Update’, which reveals that the number of smartphones incorporating fingerprint or eye-based biometrics has doubled since January 2016.

The report finds that “87 smartphone vendors have introduced 346 biometric smartphones in the past year,” which brings the total number of biometric smartphone models introduced since 2013 to 549.

This figure is more than double the 200 models the market research firm reported in January 2016.

In addition, the report finds that the quarterly average price of a biometric smartphone dropped from $849 to $277 from 2013 to 2016. There are also 127 biometric smartphone models selling for $150 or less.

“The proliferation of biometric smartphones is extraordinary. The 500 models currently available on the market today represent a ten-fold increase in just two years,” said Maxine Most, Acuity Market Intelligence Principal. “Biometric smartphone growth will continue as mobile application security, particularly for financial services, demands biometric authentication, low-cost apps and sensors drive down the cost of biometric integration, and consumers clamor to eliminate their reliance on passwords and pins.”

The report also states that nearly one billion biometric smartphones are currently in use, which comprises 40% of the overall global smartphone market.

This market share is expected to escalate to 100% of the two billion smartphones shipped annually within two years reaching 100% installed base penetration by 2022, Acuity said.

Biometric smartphones entered the market in 2014, initially with 28 vendors offering mostly one model. Today, of the 87 vendors offering biometric smartphones, more than 30 offer at least six models while ZTE, Huawei, Lenovo, Samsung and Xiaomi have each introduced at least 20 models.

“This unprecedented growth supports Acuity’s assertion that within two years, biometrics will be as ubiquitous on smartphones as high resolution cameras are today,” Most said. “Acuity is confident the market will achieve the 100% biometric smartphone penetration originally forecast for the end of 2018 in The Global Biometrics and Mobility Report. This will not only fundamentally change the dynamics of the smartphone market but create a truly global platform for biometric authentication.”

The “Biometric Smartphone Update” report shares information about all biometric smartphones models including biometric mode, vendor, and sensor, as well as brand, OS, price, introduction date, availability, and links to specifications and reviews.

Previously reported, Acuity Market Intelligence published new research that predicts that by 2022, annual production of biometric “physical” identity credentials will peak at more than one billion a year.

Article Topics

access control | Acuity | biometric authentication | biometrics | market research | Maxine Most | smartphones