Android Phone Makers Can’t Copy Apple’s Face ID Because It’s Too Expensive

It typically takes just a few weeks for phone companies, especially those in China, to copy device features introduced by more famous brands like Apple and Samsung, but in the case of the iPhone X facial recognition system, it appears there’s a serious roadblock for this: the high price of the tech.

While Apple wasn’t the first company to bring facial recognition to a smartphone, its system called Face ID was the first to use 3D sensing cameras that provide more accurate scanning and enhanced security.

Unsurprisingly, Android phone makers looked into the technology, but according to a report from Digitimes, they can’t copy it just yet because it’s too expensive.

3D sensing modules currently sell between $30 and $50 a unit, and in the case of devices that are supposed to sell for a couple hundred bucks, this is clearly a major drawback.

Apple bringing Face ID to three iPhone models

Chinese Android phone makers hoped that pricing of these systems would drop in 2018 as more companies would embrace it and production would be started by other suppliers too. But supply continues to be constrained, and with Apple said to be looking into bringing Face ID to three different iPhone models this year, hence more modules would be needed, prices are unlikely to drop anytime soon.

As a result, most Android OEMs in China have already delayed plans to bring 3D sensing-based features to their phones and choose instead to rely on the existing solutions, like fingerprint scanners. The report also cites Samsung as not yet planning to offer 3D sensing applications in the short term, despite the firm already offering standard iris and face recognition on its flagship devices.

The complex nature of the 3D sensing tech on the iPhone X has created particular struggles for Apple, as it was believed to be one of the main reasons for the delay of the device. There were reports that Apple reduced the accuracy of the technology in order to make it easier for suppliers to build the modules, but the company strongly denied these claims.