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Gartner predicts touchscreen mobile device sales to grow 97 percent in 2010 |
Research firm Gartner is predicting that sales of touchscreen mobile devices in 2010 will jump 97 percent as compared to 2009 sales, and will accout for 58 percent of all mobile device sales globally by 2013.
A recent statement by Gartner says that it expects the worldwide market for touchscreen mobile devices to surpass 362.7 million units in 2010, growing 96.8 percent increase from 2009 sales data of 184.3 million units. It further said that by 2013, touchscreen mobile devices will account for 58 percent of all mobile device sales worldwide, and will account for more than 80 percent in developed markets such as North America and Western Europe.
Gartner's prediction comes close on the heels of Apple announcing the availability of its recently launched touchscreen “magical and revolutionary” iPad will be available in the US starting Saturday, April 3, 2010 for Wi-Fi models and late April for Wi-Fi + 3G models. Apple said that all models of iPad would be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April. The company also opened its “pre-order” book for US customers from March 12. iPad prices start at $499.
"Touchscreens are no longer the preserve of high-end devices and are now being included in many midrange phones as more companies have been driving the consumer market for affordable touchscreen phones," said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner. "As phone capabilities increase, consumers are becoming much more aware of the benefits of touch interfaces, and vendors are responding."
Gartner says that mobile phone vendors are focused on integrating touch technologies, with many going a step further and starting to deliver user interfaces (UIs) that are “truly optimized for touch input.” Cozza said the success of the iPhone has shown the viability of capacitive touch technology in mobile phones, which enables more-natural, responsive and intuitive gestures.
Gartner said that it predicts capacitive and resistive touchscreens to coexist in the short term in mobile phones. Capacitive touch will be the mainstream technology; however, resistive touchscreens will still be around because of its lower cost. "Vendor and industry focus on touch UI will bring increasing sophistication and spur adoption of touch UI in other consumer electronics devices," Cozza said.
From a sales volume perspective, Gartner says Asia/Pacific is the leading region for touchscreen mobile devices. In 2010, touchscreen mobile device sales in Asia/Pacific are projected to surpass 129.1 million units, accounting for 35.6 percent of the global market. By comparison, Western Europe and North America are expected to account for 26.8 percent and 24.4 percent of global touchscreen mobile device sales.
Looking at penetration of touch devices as part of overall sales in their regions, however, Western Europe leads the way with 49 percent, followed by North America at 46.65 percent. Due to the much larger size of the overall market, touchscreen sales will account for just 23.4 percent of total mobile device sales in Asia/Pacific.
“The Asia/Pacific region adapted touch very early since handwriting is great for Chinese input,” said CK Lu, research analyst at Gartner. “Looking at worldwide performance, touch technology is mainly driven by high end smartphones and feature phones. However, in Asia, the percentage of smartphones are relatively low compared to their sales in Western Europe and the U.S. Although the touch experience is generally welcome by users, price remains an inhibitor for wide adoption of touch phones, particularly in emerging markets.”
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