The worldwide market for touchscreen mobile devices will top 362.7 million units in 2010, which is a 96.8% increase over 2009’s total of 184.3 million units, according to Gartner Inc. The research company also says that touchscreen mobile devices will account for 58% of all mobile device sales worldwide and more than 80% in developed markets such as North America and Western Europe by 2013.

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Mobile phone vendors are now focused on integrating touch technology, Gartner says, and many are now delivering user interfaces (UIs) that are optimized for touch input. Also, they are increasing their software skills to deliver deeper integration of touch UIs with the underlying platform, rather than software overlays.

The success of the Apple iPhone has shown the viability of capacitive touch technology in mobile phones, enabling gestures that are more natural, responsive, and intuitive, says Roberta Cozza, a principal analyst at Gartner. The company also expects capacitive and resistive touchscreens to coexist in the short term in mobile phones.

While capacitive touch will be the mainstream technology, Gartner says, resistive touchscreens will still be around because of their lower cost. Yet vendors need to concentrate on delivering an experience rather than just a product, the company says, as compelling user experiences ultimately will make or break their products.

C.K. Lu, a research analyst at Gartner, advises vendors to invest in expanding their UI design capabilities and ensure that designs for touch-driven UIs integrate closely with the underlying device software for an interrupted experience. Lu also says vendors should consider integrating touch with other form factors such as numeric or QWERTY keypads because touch UI can’t fulfill all kinds of operations. 

In 2010, touchscreen mobile device sales in the Asia/Pacific region will surpass 129.1 million units, taking 35.6% of the global market. Western Europe and North America will account for 26.8% and 24.4% of global touchscreen mobile device sales, respectively. Yet Western Europe leads the way in penetration of total sales with 49%, followed by North America at 46.65%.

Due to the market’s much larger size, touchscreen sales will account for just 23.4% of total mobile device sales in the Asia/Pacific region. Yet the market adapted touch very early since handwriting is great for Chinese input, Lu says. While high-end smart phones and feature phones drive touch technology worldwide, price remains an inhibitor for the wide adoption of touch phones, particularly in emerging markets, he adds.

Further information is available in Gartner’s report, “Forecast: Touchscreen Mobile Devices, Worldwide, 2006-2013,” which is available at www.gartner.com/resId=1288713.

Gartner Inc.