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Apple Paying $350 Million for Fingerprint Scanner Firm
Published on:
Apple is paying US$350 million to buy a fingerprint scanner company fuelling speculation that the company will embed some form of biometric identification in its forthcoming products.
In a stock market announcement, AuthenTec said that the board of directors had agreed to the takeover, accepting an offer that paid a 58% premium over the company's recent shareprice. The deal has to be ratified by the shareholders.
Some Japanese smartphones already come with fingerprint scanners to unlock the handset, and Samsung had just announced that it would deploy AuthenTec technology in future smartphones. There is now a question over whether Samsung will proceed with that plan following the Apple takeover.
There is even talk that Samsung may launch a counter-bid to buy the company, although that would strain already tense relations between the two companies, and Apple is still a major customer for Samsung supplied components.
In addition to the hardware and software, Apple is also gaining access to the company's patent portfolio, which could prove to be a more serious threat to rival smartphone manufacturers.
Tags: [apple] [fingerprint] [authentec] [USA]
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