Touch-Screen Shipments to Reach 833 M. by 2013: iSuppli

Taipei, May 23, 2008 (CENS)--Global shipments of touch-screen display modules are expected to more than double from 2008 to 2012, according to iSuppli Corp., a global leader in technology value chain research and advisory services.

Spurred by the popularity of Apple's iPhone and its elegant user interface, iSuppli pointed out, the worldwide market for touch-screen modules is expected to amount to 341 million units and US$3.4 billion in value in 2008.

iSuppli forecasted that the market would grow to 833 million units by 2013, expanding at Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 19.5% from 2008, while the global touch-screen module revenue is forecasted to grow to US$6.4 billion by 2013, rising at a CAGR of 13.7% from this year.

According to Jennifer Colegrove, senior analyst for emerging displays at iSuppli, new touch-screen technologies are being commercialized and 12 types of touch-screen technologies now have commenced mass production. Many companies commenced touch-screen manufacturing and integration in 2007 and more are starting in 2008, she observe red.

Brought up by Apple's highly successful iPhone, sales of touch screens using projected capacitive technology are growing dramatically, iSuppli said. Projected capacitive touch-screen technology is more durable and has better transmittance than the more commonly-used resistive technology.

Projected capacitive touch panels grew at the fastest rate of all touch technologies in 2007, with 10.5 million units shipped, for a value of US$222 million. The research firm forecasted that projected capacitive touch screens would maintain high growth momentum and reach 123.5 million units and US$1.3 billion in revenue by 2013.

Despite the total of eight distinct, commercialized touch-screen technologies--resistive, surface capacitive, projected capacitive, surface acoustic wave, infrared, bending wave, active digitizer, and optical imaging-even more new touch-screen approaches are being invented, iSuppli said. These include new touch technologies from N-trig, Sony, Sharp, TMD and Samsung.

Several companies recently have announced plans to commence touch-screen manufacturing. Furthermore, several mergers and acquisitions have occurred, launching new participants into the market. For the touch-screen market, with more than 100 suppliers and over 300 brands/integrators as well as a group of technological alternatives, iSuppli predicted, even-more prosperous times are ahead.

Worldwide Touch-Screen Module Shipment Forecast
	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	CAGR 2008-2013
Shipment Volume (Millions of Units)	341	464	563	658	749	833	19.5%
Revenue (Millions of US$)	3,360	4,188	4,815	5,404	5,958	6,380	13.7%
Source: iSuppli Corp., May 2008