AuthenTec (NASDAQ:AUTH), the world's leading provider of smart fingerprint sensors and solutions, announced today that it is expanding its Shanghai-based operations and has named Dr. Lunji Qiu as Vice President & General Manager of AuthenTec China. Dr. Qiu previously held positions as Vice President of Product Development & General Manager of Atrua Technologies, General Manager of Broadcom China, and held management and engineering positions with Motorola in Singapore. Dr. Qiu will oversee all aspects of AuthenTec China, including business development activities and the expansion of its software, customer support, marketing and sales teams.

“We are extremely pleased to appoint Dr. Qiu to lead our business development efforts and our growing software development team in China,” said Scott Moody, AuthenTec Chairman and CEO. “Dr. Qiu brings a proven track record as a General Manager and has a strong background in fingerprint sensor technology and the mobile handsets market, including experience in embedded systems, software development and customer support. His background and expertise, coupled with our expansion initiatives will help us further pursue the tremendous growth opportunities not only in China but the rest of the world, as well. Customers in the region will see increased emphasis on local support while all our customers will see increased development activities in software including our new TrueSuite™ client application software and smart sensor solutions.”

“I’m excited for this opportunity to lead the AuthenTec China team and continue the momentum and development of AuthenTec’s outstanding technologies to take advantage of the growing opportunities in China and the region,” said Dr. Qiu. “AuthenTec’s total solution is well suited for the leading OEMs and ODMs in China. I also look forward to expanding a strong software development and support infrastructure that will benefit not only customers in the region, but PC and wireless customers around the world.”

AuthenTec’s design center in Shanghai serves as a base of operations for AuthenTec China’s software development, sales and technical support teams. The Company recently added three new players to its 28-member China team, including two senior field applications engineers and a sales account manager. AuthenTec plans to further expand its Shanghai operations through the addition of several software development engineers in the next few months.

China is a key region for growth in AuthenTec’s target markets of notebook PCs, netbooks and smartphones. AuthenTec has the broadest portfolio of silicon fingerprint sensors on the market today, and is expanding its offering to include new smart sensors, software, and client applications that increase touch-based functionality while simplifying the sensor user experience.

Dr. Qiu earned Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Beijing University of Posts and Telecomm, as well as a Master’s degree and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Queensland. He currently serves as an adjunct professor at Shanghai International Institute.

About AuthenTec

AuthenTec brings multiple touch-powered features including navigation, personalization, convenience and security to nearly 50 million PCs and peripherals, cell phones and other products. The Company’s newest generation of smart sensors, software and TrueSuite™ client applications give users secure one-touch access to their favorite websites, online social networks and digital identity. AuthenTec has the broadest product and patent portfolio in the industry today, and helps enable the Power of Touch^® for millions of people at home, at work or on the move. For more information, visit www.authentec.com or follow us at twitter.com/authentecnews.