February 16, 2014 – by Peter B. Counter
The week that was started off with a bang: in the first major biometrics acquisition of 2014, HID Global purchased multispectral fingerprint technology company Lumidigm. Like the similar major acquisitions of late 2013, this indicates further that the fingerprint biometrics market is as in demand as ever. The company whose proprietary biometric technology allows for accurate fingerprint readings regardless of print surface quality (scars, dirt, etc) or inclement weather conditions, will not only benefit from the global presence that HID boasts, but Lumidigm is also looking forward to expanding its authentication tech portfolio: exploring new opportunities in iris and face imaging.
Last week Fingerprint Cards AB (FPC) reported its Q4 2013 financial results, and with them the statistics for the entire year. The numbers show that FPC had its best financial year in company history, and this week we got a taste of the fruits of FPC’s success. Among the innovations that added up to this accomplishment was the inclusion of its touch sensor on next generation smart cards like Zwipe’s biometric access card, which – as announced this week – will be provided to OEMs in April by Farpointe Data.
Aware, Inc. also announced its fourth quarter financial results this week. The report is of specific interest since this year saw the biometrics service provider complete the shutdown of its previously offered DSL operations. Though the shedding of that aspect of the company has resulted in Aware’s reporting a net income of $2.6 million, in contrast to last year’s $72.3 million. That said, Aware still reported $19.4 million in revenue: a marked increase on last year, so the company is rightly optimistic in its continuing operations.
Turning from last year and looking to the future of biometrics, this week Acuity Market Intelligence released a report detailing the market growth of automated border control (ABC) kiosks and eGates. The market is described as growing to $1.2 billion by 2020, and it looks like the majority of the revenue will belong to Europe. The report is available through Acuity’s website and its finding will be presented in the upcoming findBIOMETRICS webinar to be held Wednesday February 19 at 11 AM EST: The Global Automated Border Control Market: Forecasts & Analysis.
Finally, NEC Corporation of America has just come out of an award winning year in the biometrics industry. This past week, findBIOMETRICS president Peter O’Neill had a chance to take a look behind the scenes of NEC’s biometrics division with Raffie Beroukhim. The interview is enlightening in regards to the corporation’s current operations as well. Just this week NEC Corporation of America become a sustaining member of IJIS Institute, displaying its public commitment to secure information: an attitude that played no small part in the recognition described above.
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