Asustek Computer is planning to add fingerprint identification functionality to its ZenFone smartphones in the second half, at the soonest and the function will become a default feature for the ZenFone 3 in 2016, according to a Chinese-language Apple Daily report citing company president Jerry Shen as saying.

Asustek's new inexpensive smartphones for China will also feature the function in the second half of the year. In April, Asustek's monthly capacity of ZenFone 2 production will be about one million units and the vendor is looking to raise the volume to two million units in the second quarter and three million in the third quarter, the paper noted.

Asustek's ZenFone 2 will become available in countries and regions such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Europe, Russia, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Singapore, Indonesia, India and the US at the end of the second quarter. However, Asustek internally expects Europe, North America and Japan to contribute only about two million units of sales in 2015 with the majority of its sales to come from emerging markets, the paper added.