Samsung, Moto lead touchscreen growth

Shipments of touchscreen-based mobile devices have nearly doubled since 2006, driven in large part by the popularity of the iPhone, said a recent report from ABI Research.
The firm predicts revenue from the global touchscreen market for mobile phones and other handheld devices will reach $5 billion next year.
“Nearly all mobile handset manufacturers are getting into touchscreens to a greater or lesser extent,” said ABI research director Kevin Burden. “The acceptance of touchscreens to date has varied by geographic region, which has been a significant factor in determining the success of individual handset vendors.”
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Motorola Inc. have dominated the market with 33% and 30% share of the touchscreen mobile phone market respectively, said ABI. Sony Ericsson holds 24% of the market, said ABI.
“Samsung and Motorola lead the market for touchscreen phones primarily because of their scale and significant presence in the Asian markets,” said Burden. “Because it’s difficult to represent even a fraction of the common Asian characters on a QWERTY-style keyboard, touchscreen devices on which characters can be written with a stylus are immensely popular.”
And touchscreen components are becoming less expensive. The firm said the price for touch components and panels are falling at an average of about 10% per year.