Touchscreen Module Revenues to Reach $9B by 2015: DisplaySearch

The touchscreen module market is forecasted to grow to $9 billion by 2015 from $3.6 billion in 2008, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14 percent, according to DisplaySearch.

Jennifer Colegrove, Director of Display Technologies at DisplaySearch, noted that touchscreens are becoming widespread due to the ease of use and intuitive interfaces they enable, which can save time and increase productivity. Falling prices have also spurred adoption. Finally, touchscreen devices are now perceived as cool and fun, he added. "Over the next several years, touchscreens will undergo strong growth in large size applications, such as retail, ticketing, point of information and education/training," the director said.

Projected capacitive shipments have increased substantially, DisplaySearch said. Popularized by Apple`s iPhone and iPod Touch since 2007, shipments of projected capacitive touch screens have increased substantially and become the second biggest touch technology following closely behind resistive touch.

In addition, multi-touch is increasing its penetration rate. Before the iPhone, multi-touch implementation required large, heavy and expensive devices. Currently, about 50 suppliers are shipping multi-touch screens using different technologies. Microsoft`s upcoming Windows 7 will support multi-touch, enhancing industry interest, DisplaySearch said.

Cellphones are the biggest application of touchscreens in terms of unit shipments. There were about 220 million touchscreens shipped for cellphones applications in 2008, which is a 16 percent penetration rate. DisplaySearch forecasted that the penetration rate of touch in mobile phone would reach nearly 40 percent by 2015.

Source: CENS