At present, fingerprint sensors have become the standard for smart phones. With the Chinese army joining, the competition among fingerprint sensor suppliers has become increasingly fierce. Recently, some fingerprint sensor supplier quotations have been reduced to less than $1.50. In 2014, the price of fingerprint identification modules remained at a high level of more than $10. In just three years, the fingerprint sensor market instantly changed from the Blue Ocean to the Red Sea. The big wave of sand washing, a new round of knockouts will be staged.
Initial change in pattern
There is no doubt that the fingerprint sensor market is an attractive cake. Especially in the promotion of Apple iPhone 5s in 2013, fingerprint recognition has found a new fertile ground for smartphones, and has since grown at an incredible rate of multiplication. From mobile phone unlocking, information protection to online identification and mobile payment, the application of fingerprint sensors is becoming more and more widespread.
According to statistics, the shipment of fingerprint recognition sensors in 2016 has reached 689 million, and the market size is about 2.8 billion US dollars. According to market forecast agency Yole, the composite annual growth rate of the consumer fingerprint sensor market will be 18% between 2016 and 2022, reaching a market size of US$4.7 billion by 2022.
At present, the major fingerprint identification vendors in foreign countries include AuthenTec (acquired by Apple), Swedish FPC, SynapTIcs, etc. The main domestic fingerprint identification vendors include Huiding, Mindui, Fei Engel, Xinyi, Core Qihang, Beite, and Si Li Wei, Ji Chuang North, BYD and other mainland manufacturers, as well as Taiwanese manufacturers such as Aegis, Elan, Duntai, and Mao.
In general, the fingerprint sensor market is still dominated by Apple (AuthenTec), FPC, SynapTIcs, and Huiding.
"AuthenTec Apple's own use, Sweden FPC, SynapTIcs, Huiding Technology three mainly in the Android mobile phone market. In 2016, the market share of these four manufacturers reached more than 90%." Gartner research director Sheng Linghai told reporters.
Among the four, FPC relied on Huawei's Mate 7 to sell a lot of money. It once won more than 80% of the domestic mobile phone market. The volume increased by 20 times in two years. In 2015, the turnover surged by 1142%, and the gross profit margin was as high. 46%.
However, the good times are not long. In the increasingly fierce market competition, Sheng Linghai pointed out to reporters that although the shipment volume is still large, the market share of FPC is currently decreasing significantly. This is mainly because of the rapid growth of Huiding Technology, which has squeezed the market share that FPC originally had.
Since the mass production in 2014, Huiding Technology's fingerprint business has been rapidly increasing. From 2015, it is still less than 10% of FPC, and in July 2016, it has almost reached a level with FPC in revenue. Today, on the flagship mobile phones of mainstream brands such as Huawei, vivo, ZTE, Xiaomi, Meizu, LG, Nokia, and Asus, you can already see the fingerprints of Huiding Technology, such as Xiaomi 6, Huawei P10 and so on.
Judging from the latest financial reports, Huiding Technology should have surpassed FPC to sit firmly on the top spot in the global Android camp fingerprint identification. According to the first quarter financial report of Huiding Technology in 2017, the company's operating income was 731 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 90.21%, and net profit reached 175 million. Among them, the fingerprint identification chip business accounted for 75.1% of the total revenue, which has reached 548 million yuan. FPC's revenue for the same period was approximately 536 million yuan (685.9 million Swedish kronor), and profit decreased by 88% year-on-year, about 42 million yuan.
“This is mainly because Huiding Technology has certain competitiveness in terms of cost performance and specifications. In particular, Huiding Technology has focused on the development of positive fingerprint identification technology from the beginning. FPC was originally based on the back side. In addition, FPC is a European company. Top technology and domestic manufacturers and module manufacturers will also be better." Sheng Linghai explained to reporters.
new challenge
As the price of fingerprint sensors continues to decline, large manufacturers are swallowing each other's market. The small manufacturers who are vying for less than 10% of the market will have greater survival pressures, and the market competition will only become more intense in the future. More pressing for existing players, the cost pressure is still there, and the threat of new technology has come.
At present, the mainstream fingerprint sensor technologies on the market include optical, capacitive and ultrasonic. Among them, the main technology currently used by smart phones is the principle of active capacitive sensing, which realizes thinner chips, modules and more controllable power consumption at a lower cost. Although the optical fingerprint sensor realizes commercial scale earlier, it is mainly used in the market of access control, etc., and the cost is low but the volume is large.
However, with the high-end smartphones moving to a borderless, full-screen design, mobile phone fingerprint recognition has presented new challenges. Is it behind the phone that the current user habits are not preferred? Or put it inside the screen?
According to the reporter's understanding, no matter which aspect, the capacitive sensor has encountered its ceiling. Although there are also IFSTM fingerprint recognition solutions (called "Invisible Finger Sensor") introduced by companies such as Huiding Technology, there are still many restrictions.
If placed inside the screen, the capacitive 200um penetration rate is not enough to meet the physical characteristics of the transparent display, and screen openings may be required. If you put it on the back of the phone, you still need to open the hole. It is difficult to achieve the ultimate in waterproof and anti-fouling and anti-sweat interference.
In order to solve the problem of no border and full screen, a fingerprint sensor using ultrasonic or optical new technology came into being.
"The optical obstacle lies in the refractive index problem. At present, the ultrasonic wave is in the front. Ultrasound is a possible solution to solve the comprehensive screen, and the supplier of ultrasonic is only Qualcomm." Sheng Linghai told reporters.
Seshu Madhavapeddy, vice president of product management at Qualcomm, pointed out to reporters that Qualcomm's new generation of ultrasonic fingerprint sensors can penetrate thicker materials such as displays, metal and glass. Compared with current capacitive fingerprint sensors, they have the same accuracy and delay performance, are equally competitive in terms of module size and power consumption, and can support other functions such as underwater operation, heartbeat and blood flow detection. Wait.
"We believe that the new generation of ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is more powerful in terms of performance and function. As mobile phone OEMs adopt more advanced ultrasonic fingerprint sensors, the proportion of traditional capacitive fingerprint sensors will decrease," Seshu Madhavapeddy said.
However, ultrasonic fingerprint recognition sensors are not yet in mass production. Guo Mingqi, a well-known analyst at KGI, pointed out that the technology still faces challenges in terms of activation and response speed. In addition, how to integrate it into thinner and thinner glass panels and flexible OLED displays is also a manufacturing problem.
According to the reporter, Qualcomm's ultrasonic fingerprint recognition sensor for display screens is expected to be commercially available in early 2018, and commercial terminals will be available in the summer of 2018. Earlier for glass and metal, it will be commercially available in July this year and will be used in commercial terminals in the first half of 2018.
"Optical and ultrasonic can replace the capacitive technology, but also depends on the production model. Due to cost problems, some high-end machines may be adopted in the future, and the low-end and low-end should still be the capacitive market. Shenglinghai analyzed the reporter.
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