Samsung may be building its own fingerprint scanners

Samsung already designs and manufacturers its own processor and memory chips for smartphones along with display panels too, and, according to sources in Korea, the company may soon start producing its own fingerprints scanner components as well.

According to the report, Samsung began production of its own capacitive fingerprint scanner hardware around the end of last year. Development is now said to be in the closing stages and the company could be ready to release its first module in early 2017. It’s not quite clear how much of this technology Samsung is building from scratch though. Samsung may be sourcing a fingerprint scanning algorithm from Precise Biometrics in Sweden and will probably buy in CMOS image sensor parts from elsewhere too.

In a reversal of usual events, the first generation of fingerprint scanners from Samsung are apparently destined for low-end and mid-range hardware. Perhaps because the company’s early technology is still not quite up to scratch with the market leaders. Eventually though, Samsung scanners could find their way into Galaxy S series handsets and potentially be sold to third party clients too.

Samsung currently buys its fingerprint scanners from Synaptics, which accounts for approximately 90 percent of total market shipments. Despite Synaptics’ market dominant, there are a number of new players emerging in China and South Korea, which could help bring the price of components down.

The smartphone giant has gradually been bringing the design and manufacturer of a number of smartphone components in house, including displays, processors, flash memory, and this year battery production as well, which didn’t pan out as intended. By bringing fingerprint production inside as well, Samsung could be looking to grab a lucrative share of the half a billion scanners estimated to have shipped last year. Of course, we’re still waiting on an official word from Samsung about any products.