July 28, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics and its Japan-based stylus development partner Wacom are entering the digital signature market with their S-Pen stylus, the signature feature of the Korean tech giant’s Note phone. 

“When combined with Samsung’s authentication solutions such as Samsung Pay, Knox and iris and fingerprint recognition, S-Pen’s digital signature will create new demands in the B2B market,” Samsung’s head of technology strategy Chai Won-cheol said at a news conference on Aug. 23 after the Note 8 unveiling event in New York.

“We are currently working on a more sophisticated digital signature solution with several partners.”

Nobutaka Ide, executive vice president of Wacom’s technology solution business unit, also hinted at more functions for S-Pen that will be equipped with heightened security solution.

He added S-Pen makes up almost 50 percent of the business unit’s total sales, saying the company has no plan to adopt S-Pen in other smartphones.

“Wacom has studied EMR (electron magnetic resonance) technology over the past seven years along with Samsung,” he said. “In order to further upgrade the technology, we will focus on the Note phone only.”

Digital signature is the digital correspondent of a handwritten signature that offers far more security to prevent tampering or impersonation in mobile communications.

About the possibility for the stylus being attached with a microphone, Chai confirmed related studies are underway.

Wacom that invented the world’s first phablet stylus in 1987 is a market leader in the field of digital pen and ink. It has been working with Samsung for S-Pen since 2011

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)