APAC to lead touchscreen mobile device sales
The Asia-Pacific region will lead in sales volume for touchscreen mobile devices this year, surpassing 129.3 million units to account for 35.6 percent of the global market, according to a new report from Gartner.
In a statement Thursday, the research analyst noted that the global touchscreen mobile device market is expected to increase 96.8 percent over 2009, with shipments of over 362.7 million units in 2010. Western Europe is expected to account for 26.8 percent and 24.4 percent for North America in global touchscreen mobile device sales.
"The Asia-Pacific region adapted touch very early since handwriting is great for Chinese input," said C.K. Lu, research analyst at Gartner, in the statement. Touch technology worldwide, he added, is mainly driven by high-end smartphones and feature phones.
However, in the region, touchscreen devices will only account for 23.4 percent of total mobile device sales, a smaller percentage compared to 49 percent in Western Europe and 46.7 percent in North America.
Lu explained that while the touch experience is generally welcomed by users, price remains an inhibitor to widespread adoption of touch phones particularly in emerging markets.
Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner, noted in the statement that touchscreens are no longer limited to high-end devices. They are now also included in mid-range phones, as more companies push affordable touchscreen phones in the consumer market.
According to Cozza, the recent Mobile World Congress has demonstrated that touch interface technology will continue to be one of the key areas of innovation during 2010. Vendor and industry focus, she added, will spur the adoption of the touch user interface (UI) in other consumer devices.
Gartner also predicted that capacitive and resistive touchscreens will coexist in the short term in mobile phones. Capacitive touch used in devices such as Apple's iPhone, which enable more natural and responsive gestures, will be the mainstream technology; however, resistive touchscreens that make use of two thin conductive layers, will continue to be adopted due to its lower cost.
Lu also noted that vendors need to continue to concentrate on delivering an experience rather than just a product. "Touch technology is just an enabler and it is the user experience that will make or break the product," he explained.
He added that vendors should invest in expanding their UI design capabilities while ensuring the designs for touch-driven UIs integrate closely with its software for an uninterrupted experience.
As the touch UI is not able to fulfill all kinds of operations, Lu urged vendors to consider integrating other form factors such as numeric or QWERTY keypads.