UnionCommunity has experienced a major increase in both inquiries for and sales of its biometric face and iris recognition products in the Middle East region since February, as contactless biometrics see increased export rates due to the spread of COVID-19, the company announced.

Orders from Egypt have increased by more than 400 percent over the first half of the previous year as the government replaces its attendance system with facial recognition terminals, and the order rate in Saudi Arabia exceeded last year’s in March, the company says. Sales to the country are expected to be up by 200 percent in the second quarter, and interest in iris recognition is expanding in countries such as Qatar to identify people wearing a hijab.

UnionCommunity expects the trend to continue in the second quarter of the year, and will move up the release of iris recognition products previously scheduled for the second half of the year to address the increased demand. Pre-promotion for the new UBio-X Pro2 face and fingerprint terminal with liveness is also being accelerated.

“In terms of hygiene and convenience, contactless biometric products are highly preferred,” states UnionCommunity CEO Yo-shik Shin. “Recently, sales in the Middle East and Asia have been increasing along with the COVID-19 issue and this trend of increasing demand for contactless products is expected to expand worldwide. To pave the way for the upcoming trend, we are planning to advance the sales by accelerating the development of new products and activating promotions.”

The company participated in the GITEX Technology Week in Dubai late last year, saying at the time it intended to expand its market share in the Middle East.

source – BIOMETRIC : UnionCommunity reports sharp sales increase for contactless biometrics