“Apple Inc. has agreed to buy AuthenTec Inc (AUTH.O) for $8.00 per share, the maker of fingerprint sensor chips used in personal computers said, in a deal valued at about $356 million,” Supantha Mukherjee reports for Reuters. “AuthenTec makes security software and chips for mobile phones that it licenses to companies such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.”
MacDailyNews Take: Not anymore. Suck it, Kun-hee, you old convict.
“It also produces chips for fingerprint recognition and near-field communication (NFC),” Mukherjee reports. “Based on Thursday’s closing price $5.07, the offer represents a premium of 58 percent for AuthenTec’s shares.”
Mukherjee reports, “Melbourne, Florida-based Authentec disclosed the deal in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission… Piper Jaffray advised in the deal, the company said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: As per the SEC filling, if AuthenTec opts for a higher bid from another company, it will pay Apple $10.95 million, however if the deal isn;t finalized because of antitrust concerns, Apple will pay AuthenTec $20 million.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
I think this could mean that apple is more serious about enterprise. I think the next 24 months are going to be interesting in the enterprise arena.
Forget enterprise, this is all about NFC payments.
Absolutely correct, but I’d add NFC connections like syncing. Just place your iPad or iPhone near your Mac and it syncs.
JUST SO LONG AS Apple notices that it was recently shown that using NFC a person can pwn any Android phone and takes significant steps to keep that from happening.
NFC Payments is a huge market.
VISA alone processes 4.4 TRILLION dollars worth of transactions per year. Imagine pushing out the traditional players and taking a cut of that.
However, the same security technologies they want to employ with mobile payments have HUGE value in enterprise market. Think about the SecureID/Smart Card market. Much more manageable to have that type of authentication done via phone than it is handing out unmanageable stand alone devices.
Fingerprints?? Maybe I could sell them a bunch of 10 year old IBM Thinkpads with fingerprint readers that we are getting ready to toss.
Think of it this way.
If the computer authenticated a user via fingerprints when they simply touched the track pad instead of handing a stand a lone device would that not be more “user friendly” and “user transparent”?
That is the idea. To make it seamless. Built into the touch screen. Not a stand alone device that takes an extra step.
Imagine swiping your phone every time without having to type in an unlock code but then your coworker does the same swipe motion and the phone doesn’t unlock.
That is what we are talking about.
I suggested this in the past and want to restate it again. Apple needs to keep finding key materials and suppliers that Samsung can’t live without. Buy them or control those sources until you drive Samsung out of Apple’s markets. Apple has $117 BILLION! Time to show the world that either stand with Apple or die alone as Apple iRoadKill.
Kind of diminishes their argument doesn’t it?
Tell others to innovate and stop copying and then you beat them by buying their suppliers?
I do not think your strategy is good for consumers and isn’t much better than the Microsoft tactics of the 90’s.
Apple needs to do what Steve built them to do: Build Insanely Great products at the intersection of Tech, Arts & Humanities. Success and accolades will come from that.
Using your wealth as a club to bully isn’t humanity, it’s disgusting.
Drive competitors out of the market? Why would Apple do that? All Apple wants to do is stop competitors from ripping off their product designs. Apple has no interest in playing with themselves on an empty football field. They can beat any team in the world, fair and square.
I use an Eikon fingerprint reader that UPEK made prior to merging into Authentek. The SW allows you to designate separate actions or passwords for each finger and is very reliable and highly accurate.
It allows for extremely secure passwords to be used without having to remember them. I was just commenting to an Apple support tech on Mountain Lion launch day that Apple should buy the company. I’ m sure this has been in the works for a long time, but it’s a strange coincidence.
The beta support for Mountain Lion is out and I hope Apple doesn’t take the company dark like so any before.
This is definitely aimed on NFC commerce. What better way to secure a lost phone from being used to run up NFC purchases. And it’s very natural to hold an iPhone with one’s thumb on the screen as you make an NFC purchase. I like it. This would make me more confident in shifting to the iPhone for purchases rather than traditional credit cards.