Touch Screen Revenues to Reach $3.4 Billion

GLEN ALLEN, VA /Marketwire/ -- According to a just-published report from NanoMarkets LC, an industry analyst firm, revenues from touch-screen displays are expected to grow from $2.2 billion ($US) in 2010 to $3.4 billion in 2014. The growing demand for touch screen technologies in mobile and personal computing will create new opportunities for suppliers of conductive coatings, substrates, and sensors in addition to the display firms themselves.

Details about the report, "Touch Screens: Technologies, Materials and Markets" are available online. Members of the press can request an executive summary.

Key Points in the Report
By 2014, NanoMarkets projects that revenues from in-pixel technologies are expected to reach almost $500 million in revenues. NanoMarkets' new report also identifies an interesting and possibly disruptive trend is taking hold in the touch display market. Mainstream display makers have begun to develop their own "in-pixel" technologies as an alternative to the current industry practice in which third-party suppliers add a touch sensor subsystem on top of an LCD display and then sell to OEMs. The net effect is that mid-size touch screen manufacturers instead of supplying companies, such as LG, Samsung, and Sony, may wind up competing against them.

NanoMarkets' report says that the fastest growing touch screen technologies will be traditional infrared and optical technology, both of which are based on infrared sensors and LEDs. These technologies are used in digital signage and computer monitors, which are rapidly expanding addressable markets for touch technology. By 2014, the market for traditional IR and optical touch technologies will be approximately $490 million in revenues.

NanoMarkets expects that transparent conductor materials sold into the touch-screen display market will reach revenues of $280 million by 2014. However, by then only 64% of these revenues will be accounted for by expensive ITO-based materials as opposed to 92% today.

About the Report
NanoMarkets new report "Touch Screens: Technologies, Materials and Markets" provides a complete analysis and forecast of the commercial potential of all the competing touch screen technologies. In addition to the technologies mentioned above, the report also covers surface capacitive, APR, DST, force sensing, SAW, digital resistive, and emerging touch technologies, examining each in the light of existing and emerging applications, including kiosks, ATMs, POS terminals, mobile communications and computing, office automation, gaming, digital signage, appliances, industrial control, and medical devices. In addition to discussing the impact of new developments in touch screen technology on the display industry itself, the report also examines the opportunities that are emerging for the substrate, conductive coatings, and optoelectronics industries.

The report includes detailed eight-year forecasts of the touch screen industry, broken out by technology type and applications, as well as a quantitative assessment of opportunities for suppliers of materials and components. In addition, the report profiles the activities of many touch-screen technology suppliers, including leading touch screen integrators (e.g. Elo), as well as technology innovators, such as 3M, FlatFrog, RPO, Microsoft, NextWindow, TouchCo, and Vissumo.

About NanoMarkets
NanoMarkets tracks and analyzes emerging market opportunities in energy and electronics markets, created by developments in advanced materials. The firm has published numerous reports related to organic, thin-film, and printable electronics materials and applications.