Fingerprint Cards, a Swedish high-tech, listed company which develops, produces and markets biometric technology, has reported on the full year results for January to December 2015. Revenues amounted to SEK 2,900.5 M (233.6), up 1,142% compared with 2014.
CEO Jörgen Lantto reported that Fingerprint Cards had major success in China, where established a market-leading position at an early stage, within secure mobile payments
“During 2015, our Chinese customers launched 40 smartphones integrating our touch fingerprint sensors, of which 33 were launched during the second half of the year. Our major Chinese customers are planning for continued strong growth in 2016, partly on the back of increased presence outside China. Fingerprint sensors are also rapidly becoming a mandatory component in Chinese smartphones, driven by demand for secure mobile payments.”
“Our successes outside China in the second half of the year are also worth noting, including Google’s two Nexus smartphones, which contain our FPC1025 touch fingerprint sensor. In all, this is generating excellent conditions for continued growth in 2016,” he continued.
“I am very proud to report that Fingerprint Cards (FPC) closed 2015 in line with the strong performance achieved in the first three quarters of the year. Our fourth-quarter revenues of SEK 1,352 M represented sequential growth of 40% compared with the third quarter. This confirms that FPC has established a leading position in a rapidly expanding market.
Together with an increasing gross margin, this resulted in an operating profit of SEK 518 M for the fourth quarter. Revenues for 2015 amounted to SEK 2,901 M, corresponding to growth of 1,142% compared with 2014,” the CEO commented on the result.
“We continue to capture market share in touch fingerprint sensors for smartphones. During the fourth quarter, 18 smartphones featuring our touch fingerprint sensors were launched by smartphone manufacturers including Huawei, Xiaomi, Lenovo, LG and ZTE, which all belong to the seven largest smartphone manufacturers in the world. During 2015, no less than 55 smartphones featuring FPC’s touch fingerprint sensors were launched by 23 manufacturers, compared with one smartphone each by two smartphone manufacturers in 2014.”
On achievements within growing market segments FPC during the fourth quarter 2015 continued work to adapt their sensors for applications in market segments other than smartphones, for example, smart cards. This work is progressing as planned and the first commercial product launches are scheduled to take place in 2016.
At the start of 2016 FPC also announced progress in providing their touch fingerprint sensors to the automotive industry, where they have already won the first evaluations from a globally leading car manufacturer concerning future integration in cars. They also made progress related to the Internet of Things, whereby different types of objects are connected to the Internet, where fingerprint sensors are beginning to gain a significant role.
“The reason why we secure the first engagements in these new segments is the same as in smartphones – we offer the market’s leading technology and products, thus enabling our customers to provide the best possible user experience to the consumers, irrespective of whether the end product is a smartphone, a smart card, a vehicle or a connected object,” reported Jörgen Lantto.
”In 2015, we established FPC as the globally leading manufacturer of complete and integrated systems for fingerprint sensors. Our objective in 2016 is to consolidate our position as the market’s leading supplier by growing further together with our existing customers, and by breaking new ground in smartphones and other market segments. I am very enthusiastic about FPC’s future. Our aim is to continue to gain market share and prepare for a market which, according to our estimates, will amount to more than one billion units per year as of 2017. By capitalizing on our economies of scale in technology and business and using our financial strength to increase our investments, we plan to remain the leading supplier of fingerprint sensors in the coming years and thus continue our profitable growth.”
The FPC technology offers world class advantages and includes unique image quality, extreme robustness, low power consumption and complete biometric systems. With these advantages and in combination with low production costs the technology may be implemented in large volume products as smartphones, tablets and biometric cards where these demands are extremely high.
