As the dust settled on the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas, the industry is alive with the buzz of new gadgets, gizmos and emerging innovative trends. An interesting feature that we saw resurface at the event is the use of fingerprint technology in consumer electronics devices. As the innovation and quality improves, more vendors are looking to implement it as a key feature in their devices.

Ever since the industry saw the emergence of finger touch technology in smartphones in 2013, there has been a lot of buzz around this level of technology in consumer devices. However, I believe that making fingerprint readers part of a smartphone’s general features is still in its infancy with only a few manufacturers really investing in the technology.

2015 is expected to witness more advancements and developments for the finger-touch technology, as vendors respond to consumers changing demands and launch their technological attack on password access. As costs for this kind of technology decrease you will start seeing a lot more smartphone vendors getting their own fingerprint readers and we may see a number of these announcements at the upcoming Mobile World Congress, taking place in Barcelona in March.

Fingerprint technology is not just convenient to the consumer, allowing quick and easy access with the press of a finger. It is also more secure. Security experts have long said that passwords are a risky way of keeping devices and online accounts private and with few alternatives they have become synonymous with digital life. As consumers increasingly use their smartphones for work, security should be their top priority. More people are viewing this feature as a major perk and looking for smartphones with fingerprint scanners to ensure the safety of their data.

With this kind of technology maturing and becoming more available, it will be an attractive feature for vendors to offer a more intuitive experience to consumers while also offering an added layer of security to smart devices.

It is likely that with more vendors looking to innovate around this particular feature, we will see the next generation of finger-touch technology launch quickly. In a few years, we could see the fingerprint reader embedded under the display, effectively eliminating the need for a button altogether. This would allow people to simply touch the screen to verify their fingerprint. This is where we think the industry is going.

As we continue to move into the era of the internet of Things, we will also see this technology feature in household devices. CES was alive with innovation around fingerprint technology, showcasing its use within a variety of smart devices from cars to cookers. It is an exciting time to be in the consumer electronics industry as we continue to pioneer innovations and we look forward to seeing how the industry will develop fingerprint recognition over the next year.

The writer is the vice-president of Huawei Device Middle East.