Apple’s iPhone has spurred huge growth in touch-screen display shipments as competitors and consumers turn to similar technologies, new iSuppli research claims.
The researchers claim shipments of touch-screens will double by 2012, and notes that new touch-screen technologies and manufacturers are entering the market, with 60 companies plan to show off their touch-screen sensor, module or system technology during the 2008 Society for Information Display (SID) International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition.
The worldwide market for touch-screen modules will amount to 341 million units and US$3.4 billion in value in 2008. iSuppli forecasts that the market will grow to 833 million units by 2013, growing to $6.4 billion by then.
Apple’s highly successful iPhone has kick-started sales of touch screens using projected capacitive technology, which is more durable and has better transmittance than the more commonly-used resistive technology. New touch-screen technologies are also being commercialized and 12 types of touch-screen technologies now have commenced mass production.