12 September 2008

Touch Screens In Mobiles Market Grab Consumer Attention

Touch screens in mobile devices have grabbed the consumer’s attention, thanks to the Apple iPhone, with the market expected to deliver $5 billion in 2009, according to a report.

A number of factors are driving further adoption of touch screen-based mobile devices. Consumers are looking for more intuitive user interfaces and personalization options as device functionality increases. Also, prices for touch components and panels continue to decrease and are falling on an average of nearly 10% per annum.

“Nearly all mobile handset manufacturers are getting into touch screens to a greater or lesser extent,” commented market research company ABI research’s director Kevin Burden. “The acceptance of touch screens to date has varied by geographic region, which has been a significant factor in determining the success of individual handset vendors.”

Shipments in 2007 of touch screen-based mobile devices increased 91% over 2006, and ABI Research forecasts that revenue from the global touch screen market for mobile phones and other handheld devices such as MIDs, UMPCs, and PNDs will reach $5 billion in 2009.

“Because it’s difficult to represent even a fraction of the common Asian characters on a QWERTY-style keyboard, touch screen devices on which characters can be written with a stylus are immensely popular. The Asia/Pacific market consumed more than 80% of the world’s touch screen-based mobile phone production over the past year,” added Burden.