According to report, revenues from touch-screen displays are expected to grow from $2.2 billion ($US) in 2010 to $3.4 billion in 2014, and the fastest growing touch-screen technologies will be those used in digital signage and computer monitors.

    The growing demand for touch-screen technologies in mobile and personal computing will create new opportunities for suppliers of conductive coatings, substrates and sensors in addition to the display firms themselves, the study reports.

    By 2014, revenues from in-pixel technologies are projected to reach almost $500 million in revenues. Mainstream display makers have begun to develop their own “in-pixel” technologies as an alternative to the current industry practice in which third-party suppliers add a touch sensor subsystem on top of an LCD display and then sell to OEMs. The net effect is that mid-size touch screen manufacturers, instead of supplying companies such as LG, Samsung and Sony, may wind up competing against them. 

    By 2014, the market for traditional infrared (IR) and optical touch technologies will be approximately $490 million in revenues. The fastest growing touch screen technologies will be traditional IR and optical technology, both of which are based on infrared sensors and LEDs. These technologies are used in digital signage and computer monitors, which are rapidly expanding addressable markets for touch technology.
 
    Transparent conductor materials sold into the touch-screen display market will reach revenues of $280 million by 2014. However, by then only 64 percent of these revenues will be accounted for by expensive ITO-based materials as opposed to 92 percent today.

    In addition to the technologies mentioned above, the report also covers surface capacitive, APR, DST, force sensing, SAW, digital resistive and emerging touch technologies. According to NanoMarkets, the report examines each in the light of existing and emerging applications including kiosks, ATMs, POS terminals, mobile communications and computing, office automation, gaming, digital signage, appliances, industrial control and medical devices.