This year we saw the trend of fingerprint scanners in smartphones pick up. It was rumored for months that the iPhone 5s would come with a fingerprint scanner, and it did. Then the HTC One Max was unveiled, which also had a similar scanner, albeit on the back. Even Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 was rumored to have it, but that didn’t pan out. Rumor has it that a number of flagship smartphones in 2014 will come with fingerprint scanner and the folks at Digitimes are hearing from “industry sources” that both HTC and LG are planning to use sapphire for home buttons of 2014 flagship devices.
Apparently the HTC One 2 and the LG G3 will come with sapphire home buttons, thus allowing both manufacturers to bundle fingerprint scanners. It has already been rumored that LG’s 2014 flagship is going to have the scanner. HTC already released one device touting said scanner this year, it seems likely that the company will introduce it into next year’s flagship as well. Both smartphones, the HTC One 2 and the LG G3, are expected to be launched earlier than originally planned in 2014. So far the companies haven’t confirmed anything about their smartphone plans for next year, perhaps things might be a bit more clear around the time when the Mobile World Congress is about to kick off.