Biometric Market Update: Authentication Devices, Body-Worn Cameras, Biometric Locks, and Surveillance

The biometrics market is evolving, and subsequent technologies are changing fast. Reflecting upon this changing landscape, ABI Research’s upcoming Biometric Technologies and Applications (MD-BIOM-109) Market Data update has undergone a major overhaul and now delves into even greater detail on the hardware biometrics market with more device and form factor granularity. This ABI Insight will examine a few top-level findings of the report and illustrate opportunities and challenges for the near future.

Increased Opportunities for Biometric Access Control Vendors: Logical and physical biometric access control for all markets naturally has a long way to go before hitting critical mass, but there have been worthwhile efforts across the board. From healthcare to government, banking, and law enforcement, biometric logical access control seems to be increasing, with physical access control following steadily behind. This market is primarily dominated by standard ID/authentication devices.

Portable biometric scanners/readers with fingerprint, iris, and face (i.e., cameras) using a USB 2.0 interface are the most prevalent modalities. Standard ID/authentication fingerprint devices range between US$30-300, with Lumidigm usually offering some of the most expensive and technically superior models (e.g., Lumidigm M301) in the higher price thresholds, while companies like Futronic and BIO-Key offer more cost-effective solutions, such as Futronic’s FS10 or BIO-Key’s EcoID or SideTouch, BIO-Key’s small USB sensor device. Devices with additional functionalities can also host smart card readers; these include Secugen’s Pro Duo SC/PIV (single-point fingerprint with contactless smart card reader), Dermalog’s ZF1+ Scanner (single-point fingerprint with an added smart card reader), and SMUFS BT (with added Bluetooth functionality).

Steady Increase for Biometric Locks and Terminals: Biometric terminals and door locks using biometric technologies are rising in the charts as a key feature in connected environments (particularly in smart home), but they are also used in a variety of other markets including enterprise and government. Much like the aforementioned logical access control ID/authentication devices, additional functionalities are also present in terminals and door locks. A few examples of biometric door locks that enable both fingerprint authentication and smartphone Bluetooth function include the ZKTeco Smart Lock and Ultraloq UL3. Other companies like Pineworld also allow for additional Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) function.

Since 2016, the Chinese market has experienced significant growth in biometric door locks and many Chinese players have flooded the market with related products from companies like Tinyuet or INJES. Biometric door locks for smart home markets in the consumer segment currently stand at approximately 4.8 million shipments for 2019 but are expected to increase considerably by 2024, reaching 14.4 million shipments with an impressive 29% five-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) increase.

Newer Device Form Factors Are Emerging in Law Enforcement: In addition to the standard biometric devices mentioned above, the law enforcement market is currently actively adopting newer device form factors like Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs). Also referred to as Body-Worn Video Devices, BWCs are primarily utilized by law enforcement security personnel and police officers in order to record audio and video during surveillance, specific operations, or while on patrol. Data recorded from these devices provide evidence that can be used in court or for a number of law enforcement procedures and one of their key value propositions is to limit complaints against police officers while in the field.

Many new vendors have entered the market, both increasing competition and reducing device Average Selling Prices (ASPs). Examples of BWCs include devices from leading multi-vertical companies like Philips and device specialists like Boblov, but also smaller vendors like Rewire Security. Governments worldwide are continuously adopting BWCs and the technology is effectively merging with face recognition and surveillance operations, boosting global shipments that are expected to reach 1.6 million by 2024.

Face Recognition Challenges: Face recognition technologies continue to attract a great deal of attention across the globe, prompting additional regulatory concerns, implementation challenges, and data security hurdles for private enterprises. From the government and security side of things, face recognition surveillance systems can greatly contribute to public safety operations and even more countries are starting to initiate large-scale surveillance procedures. Naturally, this is also met with opposition from other governmental branches, enterprises, and privacy concern groups.

Some citizen and consumer protection groups even make the case that face recognition can be quite inaccurate at times; any evidence brought forth in court trials can be treated as unlawful in some cases because the technologies have failed to provide substantial results in certain high-profile cases and even misidentified individuals on numerous occasions. However, at its very core, there are key challenges that provide additional hurdles for the proliferation of face recognition surveillance and they are directly related to three concerns:

• The protection of sensitive information for both customers (enterprise) and citizens (civil and public safety)
• The controversial topic of sharing biometric data across different databases, governments, and agencies
• The security protocols (or lack thereof!) that determine how long biometric data can be stored and which entities can gain access to it

Technological Evolution and Market Forecast: Despite these challenges, ABI Research posits that surveillance camera shipments will not decrease in the foreseeable future since the technology is intrinsically linked to homeland security operations across the government, border control, and law enforcement. Total surveillance camera shipments are estimated at 54 million shipments for 2019, climbing to 79 million by 2024. This influx of devices will be primarily driven by Asia-Pacific (particularly China, Japan, and India) and driven by governmental mandates pushing for additional public security options. Implementers should also note that the tech migration from analog Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) to Internet Protocol (IP)-connected surveillance cameras will also open up additional pricing and revenue opportunities for security vendors, allowing an easier transition from a hardware-based sales model to one based on service, storage, and data management. Lastly, ABI Research still expects additional market turbulence when it comes to face recognition applications over the next five years, but the rate at which the technology is evolving and attaching to other market segments (e.g., automotive, smart home, smart cities) will not prove detrimental to overall revenues in the long term and will become the most versatile biometric modality of the last decade.