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The PC market is also beginning to bloom thanks to much more realistic pricing. In particular, civil AFIS applications for applications such as applicant screening are gaining ground, as costs come down to acceptable levels. Price push Price continues to be an important factor within the fingerprint market, with new initiatives continuing to push down the costs of implementing products, solutions and technologies. This market potential was a major attraction for venture capitalists, which provided US$20 million in a ‘Series B’ round of funding earlier this year. In the fourth quarter of 2000, the company shipped 50,000 sensors, with sales expected to expand rapidly in 2001. As Lennart Carlson, CEO of Fingerprint Cards points out: “The market for raising money – even in Silicon Valley – is ice cold at the moment.” This problem has been further compounded by the fact that many fingerprint companies are not listed on a stock exchange, limiting their powers for raising capital.īut while funding may have slowed, it certainly hasn’t dried up completely – as recent news from semiconductor company AuthenTec demonstrated. As well as mergers and acquisitions, funding is also a hot topic throughout the biometric industry at present and for many companies it is an area of discontent. Mytec and BII have also joined forces and now trade under the name Bioscrypt (see Business Watch, p6). The company now trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ‘VSNX’ and is called Visionics Corporation. In March 2001, the completion of a merger between Visionics and Digital Biometrics was announced. Merger mania Since Btt last examined the state of the market, a number of high profile mergers and acquisitions have taken place.
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Boardroom antics are certain to attract more attention and speculation over the coming months, with the changing climate for venture capital funding and a further consolidation of the industry strongly anticipated. Many companies are still entering the fingerprinting arena, research and development is continuing, competition remains healthy and the industry is finally managing to shake off the James Bond connotations that it has long been associated with. But while many changes are indeed occurring, there is still much to be optimistic about, as this month’s fingerprint survey reveals. Taking stock of the fingerprint market With recent news regarding Veridicom’s changing fortunes, and constant editorials in the mainstream media about the slowdown in the US economy, the collapse of technology stocks and the downsizing of many businesses, it would be easy to think that the fingerprinting industry’s fortunes are taking a turn for the worst.