Fingerprint sensor maker Egis Technology Inc (神盾) said that it has entered the supply chain of Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by securing sensor orders for the Chinese firm’s 5G smartphones.
To broaden its customer base and minimize operating risks, Egis has in the past few quarters been trying to reduce its reliance on orders from Samsung Electronics Co.
The new orders from Huawei would help offset Egis’ order losses to Chinese fingerprint sensor supplier Goodix Technology Inc (匯頂科技), with which it shares order allocations from Samsung.
Egis said in a statement that its optical fingerprint sensors would be featured in Huawei’s 5G smartphone series, codenamed Honor 30 Pro, Honor 30 Pro+ and Nova 7 Pro, which all hit the market earlier this month.
The deal “marks an important milestone for Egis as it introduces the first-ever optical fingerprint sensor partnership between Egis and the leading Chinese telecommunications and smartphone giant,” the firm said in a statement.
“We are very excited for this opportunity to work with Huawei,” Egis chairman Steve Ro (羅森洲) said.
“With this important milestone, we are now partnered with another leading mobile device manufacturer,” he said.
“We believe that this is further testament to our market-leading technology, as well as our ability to deliver quality solutions on time, without delay,” Ro added.
Egis told investors last month that it expected shipments of optical sensors to Chinese customers to continue to grow this year.
The firm also said that it aimed to grow revenue and net profit this year, although it could be a challenging year for the entire smartphone supply chain.
Sensors supplied by Egis can be found in various consumer electronic devices, such as smartphones, PCs, tablets and other peripherals, as well as in automobiles.
In January, the firm secured an artificial intelligence (AI)-on-chip project under the Executive Yuan, and is to receive a government subsidy of NT$200 million (US$6.66 million).
Egis is aiming to develop the world’s first optical fingerprint sensor based on reconfigurable analogue AI computing technology.
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