Apple plans to buy fingerprint sensor technology developer AuthenTec for about $356 million, striking a deal that could put its iPhone at the center of the emerging mobile payments market.
Apple is paying a 58 percent premium for the Melbourne, Florida-based AuthenTec, which counts Korean mobile device maker and fierce Apple rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd among its biggest customers.
Apple has also acquired the right to pay the company to license certain patents totaling as much as $115 million.
It will also pay AuthenTec $7.5 million for some product development work.