TOUCH SCREEN USAGE TO GO ALL TIME HIGH

A number of recognized laptop vendors are anticipated to instigate new variants with built-in touch screen panels opening in June – a move that is to be expected to significantly stir up the requirement for touch panels, according to James Fang, president of Taiwan-based Abon Touch systems. The total number of tablet PCs and laptops with a built-in touch panels summed up to two million units in 2007, but the figure of such products are anticipated to top nine million units by 2012, Fang anticipated on the sidelines of the 2008 AsiaFPD held in Guangzhou from May 21-23. In the telephone segment, the quantity of mobile phones with a built-in touch panels is projected to go beyond 500 million units, accounting for over 30% of handsets sold all around the globe, Fang predicted. Citing data from various sources, Fang also distinguished that a total of 1.1 million UMPCs (ultra mobile PCs) will come planted with a built-in touch panel by 2012. By 2011, large-scale shipments of PNDs (portable navigation devices) are projected to reach 54 million units, with over 96% of models having a built-in touch board, Fang added. To muddle through with the greater than ever increase in demand, Abon Touch systems devices to set up a plant in southeast China, with the location for the plant to be determined later, Fang stated.