Touchscreen phones to take 20% market share

Global touchscreen penetration on mobile phones will surpass 20 per cent this year, a Taiwan-based touch panel maker has claimed.

TJ Lin, Chairman of Young Fast Optoelectronics, added that his 2009 forecast is supposedly double the figure double recorded for 2008, according to a report by Digitimes.

He also claimed that this year 30 per cent of touchscreen mobiles will have capacitive panels – as found on the iPhone - and that 70 per cent will have resistive – as found on Nokia’s 5800 Express Music.

Much of the growth is due to efforts by Samsung and LG to push touchscreen handsets, Lin claimed. He also identified a growing demand for the touch-sensitive screens in mid and entry-level devices as a driving factor.

The overall touchscreen market could be worth around $3.3bn by 2015, analyst DisplaySearch has previously forecast. The analyst told Register Hardware that Lin’s comments are “credible” and that, albeit in 2007, Young Fast controlled 24.6 per cent of touch panel shipments, with a revenue of $67m (£44.8m/€50.8m). ®