Oslo, February 21, 2023 – NEXT Biometrics (Oslo Bors: NEXT) announces that it has received a minimum recurring delivery request from the Indian OEM. The OEM is asking for a recurring delivery schedule with volumes corresponding to more than USD 1 million in revenue during 2023.
In addition, Indian authorities have recently announced the launch of next-generation biometric program starting from Q1 2023*, i.e all new deployed biometric devices, will have to be certified in line with the next generation specification. Currently, there are already smaller tenders opening up and the market is expected to grow significantly from Q3/Q4 2023 onwards.
There is also a sunset date for millions of historic devices that have to be replaced before Q3 2024. Our Indian OEM partner, with 20-25% historic market share, will target to keep its market share in the upcoming market. With this positive market transformation NEXT is in a strong position for growing recurring deliveries and revenues.
The requested delivery schedule provides NEXT with minimum quantities that the Indian OEM requires for 2023. The USD 1 million total delivery for 2023 is part of the initial agreement that was announced February 2nd, 2022. From the initial PO of USD 2.2 million, the partner will at least have consumed USD 1.2 million by end of 2023**.
”It is great to finally witness the launch we’ve been waiting for in India. We see the initial smaller tenders by Indian entities starting already during end Q1. NEXT’s first recurring deliveries will start during Q2, with NEXT FAP20 sensors. This is a major proof point for market launch, and I believe we will significantly scale up NEXT recurring revenues from this point. This could be one of the most positive breakthroughs for NEXT related to generating recurring volumes.”, says Ulf Ritsvall, SVP of Sales and Marketing.
”This is well in line with NEXTs communicated go-to-market strategy for India. NEXT adds partners to accelerate market deployment of the company’s Active Thermal technology in India. This builds recurring volumes faster and scales NEXT business with less costs and effort.”, continues, Ulf Ritsvall.
* According to source: https://uidai.gov.in/images/resource/UIDAI_Letter_dated_27_01_2023_Phase_out_of_existing_fingerprint_L0_Registered_Devices_from_Aadhaar_authentication_ecosystem.pdf
** The OEM partner is awaiting final acceptance from authorities, and is expecting it within two months.
About NEXT Biometrics
NEXT provides advanced fingerprint sensor technology that delivers uncompromised security and accuracy for the best possible user experience in the smart card, government ID, access control and notebook markets. The company’s patented NEXT Active Thermal™ principle allows the development of large, high quality fingerprint sensors in both rigid and flexible for-mats. NEXT Biometrics Group ASA (www.nextbiometrics.com) is headquartered in Oslo, with sales, support and development operations in Seattle, Taipei, Bengaluru and Shanghai.
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NEXT Investor contact:
Peter Heuman, peter.heuman@nextbiometrics.com
Eirik Underthun, Eirik.underthun@nextbiometrics.com