>>Despite that first-tier touch panel makers are all actively expanding their capacity and are expected to double in 2011, Cypress Semiconductor expects touch panel supply to be short of overall demand due to demand from smartphones and tablet PCs, according to Andy Chin, managing director of Greater China region of Cypress.
Chin indicated that smartphone market demand growth in 2010 was better than expected, and the speed of capacitive touch replacing resistive touch in the market was also fast. Resistive touch accounted for 70% of the total touchscreen handset market in 2009 and dropped to about 30% in 2010, which means a 70% market share for capacitive touch panels. All touchscreen handset products are expected to adopt capacitive touch technology in 2011, Chin noted.
For tablet PCs, Chin added that with the whole industry maturing and the peak seasons in Europe and the US in the second half of 2011, tablet PC shipments are expected to increase significantly.
The tablet PC market was lead by iPad in 2010 with around 10 million units in shipments. Shipments of iPad in 2011 are expected to reach 25 million units, while the global tablet PC market is expected to reach 50-60 million. Due to the tight supply of touch panels in 2010 and shortage of touch control ICs in the third quarter of 2010, even if suppliers are able to double their capacity in 2011, expansion will not be able to reach the growth in demand, Chin said.
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