Smartphones, Media Tablets Stimulate Tripling of Touch Controller ICs

- Alert) iPhones and iPads, the use of touch screen displays in smartphones and media tablets is booming. As a result, the market for touch controller ICs have  almost tripled in size in less than five years.

A recent study completed by information and analytics provider IHS (News - Alert) iSuppli shows that shipments of touch controller ICs are set to reach 2.4 billion units in 2015, up from 865 million in 2010. The study predicts that this year alone, shipments will surge 28 percent to 1.7 billion units, with strong double-digit growth projected for the next two years before the rate of expansion slows slightly in 2015.

In a statement, said Randy Lawson, principal analyst for display and consumer electronics at HIS, “The expansion in touch controller IC shipments is due to the growing number of devices that employ touch technology.”  

He added, “Apple almost single-handedly ignited the market for touch in 2007 when it introduced the iPhone (News - Alert), which featured a multi-touch screen based on a projected capacitive touch technology. Since the appearance of the iPhone, many other smartphone manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon by deploying sophisticated touch sensors for their products.”

IHS said that touch technology has branched out from being used mainly in mobile handsets to a wide array of consumer electronic items, expanding the aggregate universe of touch applications. Consequently, touch sensors now can be found in tablets, e-readers, all-in one PCs, portable media players, portable navigation devices, flat-panel TVs and monitors, handheld video game players, automotive applications, digital still cameras and digital picture frames.

Together, according to IHS, the number of devices and appliances using some form of touch controller IC is predicted to hit 1.06 billion units this year, nearly double from 514.9 million units only two years ago.

The study also suggests that capacitive touch screens like those first featured by Apple in its products made up 54 percent of the touch market in 2011. And it will remain as the dominant implementation for the space in the years to come, ahead of other touch-sensor technologies like infrared, optical, resistive and surface acoustic wave.

Last year, according to IHS, key suppliers of the touch controller ICs were Atmel Corp., Cypress Semiconductor Corp. and Synaptics (News

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