November 1, 2007 -- According to a report from BCC Research, the global market for biometrics was worth nearly $2 billion in 2006 and is expected to increase to $2.7 billion in 2007 and $7.1 billion by 2012, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.3% over the next five years.
The report breaks the market down into applications of fingerprint, face recognition, hand geometry and other technology. According to the research firm, fingerprint biometrics, the oldest form of biometrics in use today, will continue to be the main revenue contributor from 2007 to 2012. Worth $1.3 billion in 2007, this market is forecasted to grow to $2.7 billion by 2012, a CAGR of 16.3% over the forecast period. The main reason for this growth, explains the firm, is the decrease in the price of fingerprint sensors, making them more affordable, and government initiatives that rely heavily on fingerprint biometrics.
The second largest segment is face recognition. This market is seen growing from $459 million in 2007 to $1.3 billion by 2012, a CAGR of 23.8%. Hand biometry will be the next largest segment in 2007 with market revenue of $243 million. By 2012, the market value for this segment will be $752.6 million.
The remaining biometric segments of iris scan, middleware, multimodality, voice recognition, signature verification and other emerging segments together are forecasted to constitute $729 million in 2007. These segments together are estimated to grow at a CAGR of 26% to $2.3 billion by 2012.
The firm notes that, in terms of region, Europe currently leads the biometrics market due to higher user acceptance and the introduction of biometric passports in the majority of European countries. However, according to the report, the highest potential lies in the Asian region, where technologically developed countries such as South Korea and Japan and growing countries such as China and India are expected to drive growth.
For more about the report, "The Global Biometrics Market (IFT042B)," go to www.bccresearch.com.