Vivo is working on a smartphone with a fingerprint scanner under the screen

Chinese company Vivo is the first smartphone manufacturer to place Synaptics’ fingerprint scanner under the screen of an upcoming smartphone. The company has a prototype smartphone with the integrated sensor ready.

Synaptics announced on Wednesday that it has mass-produced a fingerprint scanner called Clear ID FS9500 that works under the glass and under the smartphone screen. The company then announced that it was working with an unnamed manufacturer ‘from the top five’. That manufacturer turns out to be Vivo, reports Forbes, which briefly tested a prototype smartphone with the scanner.

The Synaptics Clear ID scanner lights up on the bottom of the smartphone when the device wakes up. After placing the finger on the location of the scanner, it gives access to the smartphone. It is not known when the smartphone from Vivo should appear and what the specifications of the device are.

Manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung reportedly encountered major problems when integrating fingerprint scanners under the screen. Samsung has therefore decided to place the scanner at the back. It is not known which manufacturers will use the Synaptics scanner. Vivo is particularly big in Asia. Vivo’s global market share hovers around 5 percent, according to figures from IDC.