Capacitive Touch Now A Mobile Mainstay

Dec 29, 2011 10:01 AM, MD&D News Staff

A December 2011 update of NPD DisplaySearch’s Touch Panel Market Analysis revealed how escalating deployment of capacitive touch technology in mobile phones is propelling the technology into the mainstream. The research firm forecasts more than 566 million capacitive touchscreens will have shipped in 2011, the bulk of which will find its way into mobile products. Increasing in popularity is the sensor-on-cover configuration also referred to as a one-glass solution or touch-on lens, which requires the capability for on-cover lens finishing and new indium-tin-oxide (ITO) patterning processes. Touch adoption of touch in PCs, i.e., tablets, notebooks, and all-in-ones, may also see an upswing in 2012 with release of Windows 8, an operating system optimized for touch support. The NPD DisplaySearch update also says that in-cell and on-cell touch from display panel makers will challenge sensor on cover starting in 2012. For details, go to www.displaysearch.com/cps/rde/xchg/displaysearch/hs.xsl/touch_panel_market_analysis.asp.