Chinese electronics manufacturers are spearheading the push toward in-display fingerprint readers in the mobile segment, with companies from the Far Eastern country already ordering tens of millions of such modules for this year alone, ETNews reports, citing industry sources. Whereas Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, isn’t expected to commercialize under-screen fingerprint scanners before 2019, China-based firms already placed orders on 45 million units planned to be implemented into consumer-grade products that are being released this year, insiders claim.
Sister firms OPPO and Vivo are by far the most active Chinese companies on the in-display sensor front, with 33 million 2018 orders for such solutions being placed between them. Huawei is second with six million orders and is widely expected to commercialize second-generation readers even before Samsung does with the upcoming Mate 20 line. Whereas the first iteration of the technology used optical sensors, the improved take on under-screen fingerprint readers will be focused on ultrasonic readings which are not only faster and more accurate but are unfazed by wet fingertips, in addition to being capable of functioning below thicker screens. It’s still unclear whether the Mate 20 Pro will be the only member of the upcoming series to use such technology and whether it will be modeled after this year’s Mate RS Porsche Design which featured both an in-display reader and a more conventional rear-mounted one.
Xiaomi also ordered three million biometric modules designed to operate below a layer of glass, though the company has yet to officially announce any plans to commercialize the emerging technology this year. In-display fingerprint scanners are hence widely expected to become a staple of Android smartphones over the course of the next twelve months, much like elongated display ratios established themselves as must-have handset features since last year. The vast majority of Chinese devices equipped with such technologies that are planned to be unveiled in the coming months won’t be officially released in the West but Huawei’s Mate 20 lineup will and should be available for purchase by this year’s holiday season.