Fingerprint Cards Stock

Fingerprint Cards, a Swedish biometrics company, specializes in developing and producing biometric systems. Founded in 1997 by Lennart Carlson, the company offers a range of products including fingerprint sensors, algorithms, packaging technologies, and software for biometric recognition.

Bo Löfberg pioneered the development of the fingerprint sensor in the 1980s. He dedicated his final years to this endeavor, ultimately patenting the technology before his passing in 1986. Despite the sensor being unfinished at the time of his death, the license was acquired by Lennart Carlson, who subsequently established Fingerprint Cards in 1997. The company went public in 1998, though it lacked a complete product to market. A pivotal moment arrived at the 1999 CeBIT fair when Ericsson Mobile Communications showcased a prototype accessory for their mobile phone line, utilizing a licensed sensor and ASIC from Fingerprint Cards. Licensing agreements were secured with Motorola and Texas Instruments, the latter developing an authentication platform known as FADT (Fingerprint Authentication Development Tool) based on Fingerprint Cards' sensors, but employing Texas Instruments' TMS320 instead of Fingerprint Cards' ASICs for algorithmic processing.  

The development process proved financially challenging for Fingerprint Cards, necessitating a 250 million SEK investment from investors before the company began generating revenue. Lennart Carlson stepped down as CEO in 2009, succeeded by Johan Carlström who held the position until 2015. 

Fingerprint Cards' initial sensor, compatible with Android and Windows, was launched in 2013. Johan Carlström resigned as CEO in 2015 due to an ongoing investigation, and Jörgen Lantto assumed the role. 2015 marked a turning point for the company as it began generating sales, resulting in a significant surge in its stock price, rising from 6 SEK at the beginning of the year to 118.20 SEK by its end.  The high trading volume of Fingerprint Cards' stock during 2015 reflects its growing market presence. 

On July 3, 2017, Fingerprint Cards was included in the OMX Stockholm 30, a listing of the 30 most actively traded stocks on the Stockholm stock exchange. However, the company was subsequently removed on July 2, 2018. 

Increased competition led Fingerprint Cards to announce five profit warnings in 2017 and 2018, causing a dramatic decline in the stock price. At its peak, Fingerprint Cards boasted a market value of 42.7 billion SEK, which had dwindled to 4.2 billion SEK by May 2019. In July 2018, the company acknowledged challenging market conditions and anticipated a continued decrease in demand for fingerprint sensors.  In response, Fingerprint Cards diversified its business by incorporating iris recognition and smartcard technologies. 

Jörgen Lantto was replaced as CEO in 2016 by Christian Fredrikson, the current CEO of Fingerprint Cards. On March 21, 2017, the company's stock price plummeted by 40% following a profit warning. This event marked the beginning of a downward trend for the stock, accompanied by consistently declining profits in annual reports. While the stock reached a low of 6 SEK in mid-2018, it has since rebounded and was trading around 13 SEK as of April 2019.  Revenue figures reflect this trajectory: 6638 million SEK in 2016, 2966 million SEK in 2017, and 1535 million SEK in 2018.

Fingerprint Cards' sensors are primarily used in smartphones, and since their first inclusion in an Android phone in 2014, over 330 different phone models feature the company's technology. Fingerprint Cards has sold over a billion sensors since its first commercial sensor in 2013. Some of the most recognizable companies that use Fingerprint Cards' technology include Google, Huawei, Oppo, and BlackBerry. Fingerprint Cards' sensor, FPC1025, was chosen by Google for their first Pixel smartphone. The newest Pixel models also include a Fingerprint Cards sensor (FPC1035), which was released on May 8, 2019.

Huawei has been using Fingerprint Cards' products in their smartphones since 2015. Some of their models with Fingerprint Cards technology include their new phones: the Nova 3e and the Enjoy 8. Vsmart Aris and Vsmart Aris Pro have also launched, integrating the side-mounted sensor FPC1540 from Fingerprints.

Fingerprint Cards is collaborating with Precise Biometrics, STMicroelectronics, and Gemalto to replace username/password applications. Fingerprint Cards and its partners are working on the development of a smartwatch that will embed a fingerprint sensor from Fingerprint Cards. Precise Biometrics provides the algorithm for fingerprint recognition, and STMicroelectronics will supply the semiconductor.

Fingerprint Cards is also working with Gemalto to introduce fingerprint scanners into credit cards (Smart cards). The digital security firm Gemalto has selected Fingerprint Cards' technology for the next generation of dual-interface payment cards. These payment cards will utilize Fingerprint Cards' flexible T-shape sensors with ultra-low power consumption. The current order consists of a few hundred thousand of these T-shape sensors, which will be delivered throughout 2019 and 2020.

Fingerprint Cards manufactures various sensors that employ different technologies for fingerprint recognition. These technologies include:

• Touch-based: These sensors operate on the capacitive sensor principle, utilizing electric current to image the ridges and valleys of a fingerprint.
• Swipe-based: Swipe fingerprint sensors utilize 3D sensing technology to capture a high-resolution 3D image of the fingerprint. Rolling or pressing the finger against a sensor can lead to inconsistencies as the skin deforms under pressure. 3D touchless fingerprint scanners address these issues, offering faster and more consistent authentication.
• Area-based: This type of sensor captures a fingerprint image by reflecting light.

Since 2017, Fingerprint Cards has expanded its product portfolio to include alternative authentication solutions like face and iris recognition.

Products

Some of their notable products include:

• FPC touch sensor series
• FPC1200-series
• FPC1300-series

The compact size and low energy consumption of these products enable their integration into small devices such as smartcards and smartphones. Fingerprint Cards is currently listed on Nasdaq OMX Large Cap.