CrucialTec supplies fingerprint modules for Huawei phone

South Korea’s biometric technology firm CrucialTec said Friday it has supplied its fingerprint modules for Chinese smartphone powerhouse Huawei’s Honor 7i.

Unlike other fingerprint modules fitted in the home button of smartphones, the Korean firm’s products are installed on the left side of the Honor 7i, aimed at enhancing the user experience.

“The side fingerprint scanner allow users to easily scan their fingerprint while holding the smartphone,” a CrucialTec official explained.

In order for a fingerprint scanner to be featured on the side of a smartphone, which is getting ever slimmer, it needs ultra-high density packaging technology and advanced algorithms that do not compromise recognition capability, according to the Korean firm.

“Other smartphone makers will soon follow Huawei’s move to deploy the side fingerprint module,” the CrucialTec official predicted.

Huawei, the world’s third largest smartphone maker by shipment volume, has adopted CuricialTec’s fingerprint modules, or biometric trackpads, for the phone maker’s high-end and mid-range handset models including the Ascend Mate 7, Honor 7 and Ascend G8.

The mid-range Honor 7i features a flip-up 13-megapixel camera and a 5.2-inch (13.2 centimeters) display with a choice between 16 gigabytes of internal storage with 2 gigabytes RAM or 32 gigabytes internal storage with 3 gigabytes RAM.

The fingerprint module maker has also struck supply deals with global smartphone makers including Fujitsu, Meizu, Oppo and HTC.

Thanks largely to its growing presence in the Chinese market, CrucialTec forecast in its recent regulatory filing that its revenue would reach 285 billion won ($240 million) in the second half of this year, up by 280 percent over the same period last year.

A number of smartphones sporting CrucialTec’s fingerprint modules are to be showcased at the IFA trade show, slated to kick off Sept. 4 in Germany.

By Kim Young-won  (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)