iPhone fingerprint speculation has positive impact on industry as a whole

Whether or not Apple integrates a fingerprint sensor that works has yet to be seen, but one thing’s for sure: all of this speculation has had a positive impact on the biometrics industry as a whole.

Since before the launch of the iPhone 5, the internet has been ripe with rumours that Apple was looking to integrate a sensor into its iPhone, and last year, that intent became pretty clear when the tech giant scooped up prevalent fingerprint sensor manufacturer Authentec for a cool US$356 million.

Fingerprint Cards, which manufactures small fingerprint sensors and has many customers in the mobile space, has also seen tremendous growth over the past year.

Another recent research report on the global multi-factor authentication market projects that the market will reach $5.45 billion by 2017, and gives a big nod to biometric identification technologies for its role in the space.