Asus ZenFone 3 to feature fingerprint scanner?

According to the Taiwan based supply chain, the share of smartphones sporting fingerprint scanners will rise from the current 30%, eventually reaching 50%. Helping the cause is a drop in prices for these sensors, soon to hit $5 a unit according to the supply chain. While this technology was originally found in high-end models only, a surge in production of the component has led to the aforementioned price decline, allowing some low to mid-range models to include the feature.

Among the 2016 models expected to carry a fingerprint reader is the Asus ZenFone 3. The handset is expected to be unveiled in May or June 2016. Previous ZenFone models did not include this feature. The Taiwan supply chain says that the manufacturer will use sensors developed by Elan Microelectronics and China-based Goodix.

According to the sources, Asus expects to ship 30 million handsets overall in 2016, up 50% from the 20 million delivered this year. The manufacturer has run into strong competition in emerging markets from other handset companies based in China. Those firms include Huawei, Xiaomi, Lenovo, Oppo, Vivo, Meizu, Coolpad, ZTE and TCL.

The Taiwan supply chain states that the ZenFone series has been doing good business in Southeast Asia, India, Brazil, Russia and Taiwan. 80% of the ZenFone line has employed Qualcomm or Intel chipsets. Only 20% has shipped with a MediaTek SoC under the hood.


source: Digitimes