COVID-19 Expected to Decrease Biometric Device Revenue by $2 Billion
According to global tech market advisory firm ABI Research, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to cause a significant pushback on biometric device shipments, creating a major revenue drop of $2 billion over the course of 2020. At the same time, the pandemic has given rise to new identification and surveillance needs, spurring further investments in biometric AI algorithm design, which will give a boost to the face recognition technologies market going forward.
“Contact biometric technologies like fingerprint and vein have been dealt a substantial blow due to new governmental regulations targeting contact and close-proximity interactions,” said Dimitrios Pavlakis, digital security analyst, ABI Research. “Fingerprint biometrics vendors are struggling to uphold the new stringent hygiene and infectious control protocols. These regulations have been correctly introduced for the safety of users and personnel, but they have also affected sales in certain verticals . . . On-premise physical access control, user registration, identification and workforce management systems have been greatly affected in the enterprise and commercial space, but these applications also spread into healthcare, law enforcement, border control, government, civil and welfare."