Apple has offered late July one of the best specialists in mobile security, AuthenTec. From there to imagine that their solutions will be integrated into the next iPhone.
On 27 July 2012, almost stealthily, Apple has captured a leader of mobile security, AuthenTec. Amount of the transaction? More than $ 356 million, one of the largest buyouts of Apple … This firm, based in Florida, provides security software for networks, computers and … mobiles. Its technologies are already over a hundred million units worldwide.
The origin of this operation dates back to 2011. At the time, several companies AuthenTec approach to present its mobile security solutions. At the end of the round, only Apple is truly interested in the proposed technologies and their prices. In February 2012, negotiations take place between the two companies for an acquisition. Main stumbling block: AuthenTec argues that a takeover would require a heavy restructuring, given that the company has many customers (Samsung, for example, signed an agreement with the firm last June). For its part, Apple claims that it needs to acquire these technologies as soon as possible to incorporate in its future products like iPhone 5. AuthenTec eventually claiming $ 9 per share and discussions get bogged down, Apple sticking to his positions at $ 8.
The sensor that changes everything
Bombshell, AuthenTec unveils shortly before a fingerprint of 192 x 8 pixels, combining various encryption technologies related to that of a single password [One Time Password, a password that is only used once, Ed]. Apple will return to the load by offering this time a licensing agreement. But ultimately, it is a redemption that is signed in late July.
There is little doubt that it is embedded technology in the sensor that has precipitated the transaction. With this acquisition, Apple makes sure to take a good step ahead of competitors and gives the possibility to easily integrate technology from AuthenTec in all its products, computers and televisions included future.
The question is not whether the fingerprint reader will one day be incorporated into the next generation of iPhone 5. The uncertainty is its presence in the iPhone 5 to be unveiled next month and whose millions of copies are already being assembled on production lines. AuthenTec must certainly work for some time on this drive and the ability to integrate it into a smartphone Apple. The Cupertino store for us does some big surprises? Due to its small size, one imagines perfectly integrated into the home button of an iPhone. Coupled with Password, the intended application to act as an electronic purse in iOS 6, it would transform the iPhone into a real secure method of payment, provided, of course, the unit is equipped with an NFC chip.
