iPhone and iPad drive touch IC development business opportunities

With Apple's iPhone and iPad selling well, it will drive related industries to develop business opportunities. Among them, smart phone and tablet PC touch panel control IC shipments continued to grow, according to IHS iSuppli survey pointed out that its shipments will grow from 865 million in 2010 to 2.4 billion in 2015, growth in five years Nearly 3 times. Since Apple introduced the touch-control iPhone in 2007, it began to develop the touch panel of the mobile phone. Other mobile phone manufacturers have begun to take this trend and added the elements of touch to their own products to drive the shipment of touch panel control ICs. The amount of growth.

After this, the application of touch technology has been extended to various electronic products, from smart phones to tablet computers, e-books, portable navigation, automotive applications, and so on. Various mobile devices, especially smart phones and tablet PCs, have become the largest source of demand for touch panel control ICs, accounting for 61% in 2011 and rising to 71% in 2015.

As a result, the growth of these devices has also led to an increase in IC shipments. The volume of touch panel control IC shipments will reach 1.7 billion units this year, up 28% from 2011. The future growth rate will reach double digits, and the growth rate will slow down slightly in 2015. iSuppli also pointed out that the number of electronic products using touch panel control ICs has grown nearly twice, from 514.9 million in 2010 to 1.06 billion in 2012.

Last year, leaders in touch panel control ICs, including Atmel Corp, Cypress Semiconductor Corp and Synaptics, accounted for more than 60% of market share. In spite of this, the major competition comes from suppliers in Asia, such as Taiwan's Luen Yu, Qi Jing Optoelectronics and Hong Kong's Solomon Technology, etc., are developing their own touch IC solutions, and strive to expand the market.