Mary-Louise Hoffman
Frost & Sullivan forecasts that biometrics would be a mature technology by 2019 and be considered an alternative to existing authentication tools for mobile devices.
Worlwide revenues of biometric technology embedded in smartphones are projected to grow from $53.6 million in 2013 to $396.2 million by 2019, representing a 39.6 percent compound annual growth rate, Frost & Sullivan said Sept. 10.
The research firm also predicts the number of biometric smartphone users globally will increase to 471 million by 2017, up from 43 million last year.
“Due to existing hardware capabilities across devices, most of the growth is expected from facial and voice authentication technologies,” said Jean-Noel Georges, Frost & Sullivan’s ICT global program director.
“Biometrics solution providers should have a regional strategy in order to specifically adapt the product or service to local privacy rules,” Georges added.
Frost & Sullivan believes the growing demand for digital IDs is driven by the explosion of mobile commerce, social media and mobile transactions.
In 2013, Apple and Samsung rolled out mobile devices that contain biometric features such as a fingerprint sensor, the report states.
