Touch-screen display market to grow to $3.4bn by 2014

Revenues from touch-screen displays are expected to grow from $2.2bn this year to $3.4bn in 2014, according to industry analyst NanoMarkets. 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. By 2014, NanoMarkets projects that revenues from in-pixel technologies are expected to reach almost $500 million in revenues. The 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 $280m by 2014. However, by then only 64% of these revenues will be accounted for by expensive ITO-based materials as opposed to 92% today.

Related articles by Zemanta

• 3M 10 Finger Multitouch Display (ubergizmo.com)