Innovations in Biometrics for Consumer Electronics–

Nine Pronged Technology Evaluation

(Technical Insights)

Biometric Technologies offering Digital Identification and Securing

Users Against Identity Theft

June 2013

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Content

Section Slide Number

Executive Summary 4

Technology Overview 10

Year of Impact 28

Market Potential 32

Global Footprint 36

IP Intensity—Patent Analysis 41

Funding 46

Breadth of Industries 50

Megatrend Impact 56

Potential points of Convergence 61

Size of the Innovation Ecosystem 64

Key Conclusions 71

The Frost & Sullivan Story 73

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Research Outline

Biometric identification is one of the most secure ways for user identity authentication and, while

integrated into consumer electronics devices, it can act as a person’s digital identification. The Technical

Insights division of Frost & Sullivan evaluated key technology trends in the biometrics for consumer

electronics domain from nine strategic perspectives.

The research service offers insights primarily on nine dimensions of biometrics for consumer electronics

market.

The 9 dimensions of the reports are listed as:

• Year of impact

• Market Potential

• Global Footprint

• IP Intensity

• Funding

• Breadth of Industries

• Megatrend Impact

• Potential Points of convergence

• Size of Innovation Ecosystem

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Nine Dimensional Analysis of Technology Assessment

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Research Scope

This research service covers key biometric technologies and applications in the consumer electronics sector. Applications

enabled by biometric technologies that are expected to have high impact in the near-term and medium-term are captured in the

research service. It also covers various dimensions that shape biometrics for consumer electronics market such as year of

impact and market opportunities; technology adoption status; and market impact of key innovations. The research service also

covers the breadth of applications benefited by biometric technologies. Funding trends, megatrend impact and potential points

of convergence are analyzed alongside to provide a complete view of the biometric technologies and their impact on the

intended market.

Year of Impact

BIOMETRICS

FOR Consumer

Electronics

Market Potential

Global Footprint IP Activity

Size of

Innovation

Ecosystem

Funding

Breadth of

Industries

Impact on

Megatrend

Potential Points of

Convergence

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Key Findings

Wide scale adoption expected by 2015

Biometrics is set to emerge as a new source of revenue within the industry in

2013. By 2015, wide scale adoption is expected.

High-growth expected – Mobile phone Will Lead the market

Mobile phone industry is the key growth area of the future and is expected to have

the largest share in the biometrics for consumer electronics market by 2015-17.

Faster Adoption in Asia and USA

USA is a rapidly growing market, though its rate of penetration in the biometrics

for consumer electronics market is currently lower than Asia. Major consumer

electronics market participants, such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, are integrating

biometrics faster. The Asian market is also progressing with wide user adoption

and major mobile phone manufacturers, such as Samsung, LG, Sony, HTC, etc.

All the major mobile phone manufacturers are racing against each other to

introduce biometric-enabled phones.

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Fingerprint Technology Leading – All major players Involved

Key Findings (continued)

Patents in the Biometrics for Consumer Electronics industry are largely owned by

USA, Japan, Korea, although Europe is not too far behind. Fingerprint technology

dominates the patent landscape.

North America Leading

Venture Capitalists are playing an important role in funding, which are currently

mostly concentrated in the North America region .

Mobile Phone Industry holds the key to success

Biometric capabilities will influence diverse consumer industries, such as mobile

phones, computers/laptops/notebooks/tablets, gaming and television. Biometric

authentication is gaining more traction as corporations focus more on identity

verification, and device security amid the growing trend toward enterprise mobility.

The mobile phones industry is considered as the industry with most potential.

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Key Findings (continued)

New Business Models of Tomorrow

Biometrics in consumer electronics products is enabling new business models,

such as pay as u go, mobile commerce, NFC-enabled transactions. Biometrics for

consumer electronics is also perceived to have a strong impact on social trends,

connectivity and convergence, bricks and clicks, health, wellness and well-being.

Mobile Commerce Enabled by NFC and Biometrics

For mass adoption of mobile commerce, consumers must be assured that security

measures protecting their devices are strong effective. Mobile payments is going

to experience explosive growth in near future and security is of paramount

concern here. Combined capabilities of NFC and Biometrics will ensure the high

adoption of mobile commerce.

Active Stakeholders Promoting Growth

Integration of biometrics in consumer electronics is an emerging trend. As

biometrics is an established technology and in use for other applications for quite

a long time, the number of biometrics stakeholders is high. Now these

stakeholders are rapidly identifying the opportunities in consumer electronics and

using their know-how to offer solutions dedicated to tconsumer electronics market.

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Technology Snapshot

Biometrics

For

Consumer

Electronics

Overview

Significance

Key

Strengths

“Biometrics” allow identification or authentication of a person based on a physiological or

behavioral characteristic. Features such as fingerprint, voice, face, iris, hand geometry,

vein are measured. Biometric technologies have quickly become the foundation of

highly secure personal verification and identification solutions, namely in unauthorized

immigration, visa frauds, border intrusion and so on.

Apart from its use in government security applications, biometric

technologies have found increasing opportunities in consumer electronics

market over the past few years.

As people are increasingly cramming sensitive information into their

computers and smartphones, they are becoming more concerned about

identity theft and financial fraud. As such, the need for highly secure

identification and personal verification technologies is becoming apparent

in consumer electronics market.

Unique: Instead of basing identity authentication on what someone

possesses or what someone knows, biometric identification is based on what

one is, or how one behaves.

Convenient: Biometric sensors eliminate the need for the user to write down

passwords, greatly reduce calls to help desks and ensure that only a pre-

enrolled and authorized user gains access to a PC or cell phone, the data

stored on the device, and the network to which it connects.

Secure: Biometric technology is a measurement of human characteristics

that are unique to an individual. It is this uniqueness that provides unique

identification to each individual and enhances security by eliminating the

chances of identity theft.

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Key Biometric Technologies for Consumer Electronics

Finger Print Recognition

Palmprint Recognition

Face Recognition

Iris Recognition

Voice Recognition

Fingerprint recognition is the method of identification using the

impressions made by the minute ridge formations or patterns found on the

fingertips.

In Palmprint recognition, palm print features, which are composed of

principal lines, wrinkles, minutiae, delta points are captured as images and used for identification.

Iris recognition technology uses the black and white image of eye

captured using IR video camera to compare various parameters, such as

rings, furrows and freckles in the cornea, iris and pupil of the eye. .

Face recognition uses facial characteristics (distance between the eyes,

width of nose, depth of eye sockets, mouth, jaws, cheek bones) to map the

nodal point on an individual’s face and compares with stored image in the

database.

Voice recognition involves authenticating a speaker based on numerous

voice characteristics such as vocal tract geometry, harmonics, pitch and

range.

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Market Drivers and Challenges

Drivers Challenges

Availability of

Embedded

Mobile biometrics

Need of

Device Security

Convenience

and Mobility

Integration

Need for

High Level

Performance

Lack of

Standardization

High Cost

Mobile

Commerce Low Low High High

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Market Overview

Overview

The adoption of biometrics has been concentrated on the government sector so far. Over the past

few years, biometric technologies are being integrated into consumer electronic products and this

has created a shift in the biometric market dynamics.

Biometrics for the consumer electronics market is in a transition state currently. The acquisition of

Authentec by Apple has kick-started the market. All the major mobile manufacturers will soon follow

this trend and one can expect mobile phones with embedded biometric sensor by the end of the

year 2013.

Not only to be used in mobile phones, biometrics will also be in use in other consumer electronics

product segments. Initially, it will be the mobile phone market that would drive the biometrics market

in consumer electronics applications.

Mobile

Phone

Car Locking

System

TV Remote

Control PCs/Laptop/

Tablet Gaming

Console

Key Application Sectors:

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For Additional Information

Jeannette Garcia

Corporate Communications

Technical Insights - Electronics

(210) 477-8427

jeannette.garcia@frost.com