Hong Kong XH’s S7562 Touch model features a 4in screen and supports 16 million colors.

Companies step up transition from resistive technology to match trends in smartphones and tablet PCs.

Capacitive touch panel suppliers in China are investing in manufacturing expansion, accelerating the shift from resistive types. They are banking on the rising requirement in smartphones and tablet PCs, the shipments of which remain on the uptick. The first application continues to grow by more than 10 percent, while the latter will hit 229 million units this year from 190 million in 2013.

Shenzhen O-film allocated $240 million to increase annual capacity to 40 million units below 10in and 3 million of larger versions. Guangdong Go-World started mass production in April, targeting to raise its level by 250,000sqm each year. The latter maker spent $138 million on the undertaking.

By year-end, the capacitive segment’s share of total touch panel deliveries from China is projected to surge to 73 percent from 54 percent in 2013, according to IHS Displaybank. Of this, smartphones will account for as much as 84 percent. In terms of output, the country’s aggregate volume reached 780 million panels last year based on TPTech’s statistics, and 540 million units went to the handset sector.

Local makers are also eyeing spreading adopt ion of touch technology in notebook computers. Enabled units stood for 11 percent of total worldwide shipments in 2013 and may have a ratio surpassing 40 percent by 2017, presenting more opportunities for the line.

Overall, global shipments of touch panels continue to rise. From 1.8 billion units in 2013, the volume will touch 2.1 billion by year-end and 2.8 billion in 2016, according to IHS Displaybank.

About 100 makers in China turn out capacitive touch panels for portable electronics. Some also have medium and large units up to 32in.

A few companies offer touch panels integrated into LCD modules to reach more markets, a strategy expected to catch on in the future. Most outsource the latter component at present.

There are still a number of suppliers that keep resistive variants in their catalogs to serve remaining requirement. Nanjing Dianmian Photoelectricity Co. Ltd has a monthly capacity of 200,000 resistive and 2 million capacitive units.

The majority of manufacturers are in the Pearl River and Yangtze River Delta regions, with more than 70 percent gathered in Guangdong province’s cities Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Dongguan. The areas will continue to attract local and international players. Microtouch, Elo and General are among the latter companies already operating there.

Budding rivalry?

As touch panel makers focus on strengthening the capacitive category through one-glass solutions, their counterparts in LCD modules are initiating product development on on- and in-cell technologies.

One of the country’s largest LCD module companies, BOE, has developed a model based on on-cell technique. The release has a 4.46in quad-HD screen, which supports multitouch function. The supplier aims to ship up to 2 million units each month later this year. Truly is another maker with on-cell variants.

In the next one or two years, more enterprises are expected to follow suit as adoption gathers steam. On-cell touch panels for smartphones will account for 22 percent of production worldwide by end-2014 from 17 percent last year, according to the China Touch Panel Website.

As for in-cell kinds, only a few domestic makers are entering the segment. They include BOE, Tianma and Infovision, which have scheduled to commence mass manufacture in 2H14.

Elsewhere in China’s display sector, this R&D direction is spawning mergers and acquisitions as companies bolster capability. Token Sciences, which specializes in touch sensors and glass processing, bought touch panel supplier DPT for $65.04 million last year. Protective glass manufacturer Xingxing Firstar spent $136 million to purchase Top Touch and join the line.

In the international front, Samsung, LG Electronics and Panasonic support the on-cell technique, while in-cell has Apple. The latter method is expected to reach maturity by 2015.

1.5 to 10in selection

Local capacitive touch panels for portable electronics range in size from 1.5 to 10in, and support 4096x4096-pixel resolution and less than 3ms response time. These feature 99 percent precision, require below 0.6N pressure and last up to 50 million touches. The glass has 7H surface hardness, and a polished, etched or industrial-grade finish.

Most releases comply with RoHS.

The main components and materials are ITO film, glass, control ICs, cover lenses and adhesive. Makers obtain the first from South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, and cover lenses from the last two areas. Their key sources of control ICs are Cypress, Elan and Synopsys. For glass and adhesive, companies turn to local or foreign suppliers as required by customers.

Despite stable input costs, prices continue to drop due to intense competition as a result of production expansion. The rate of decrease, however, will decelerate to between 10 and 20 percent in coming months.

Product gallery

Hong Kong XH Co. Ltd
(Mainland China)

Model: S7562 Touch
MOQ: Negotiable
Delivery: 3 days
Description: 4in; 16 million colors; multitouch; for Samsung Galaxy S Duos S7562 mobile phones

Nanjing Dianmian Photoelectricity Co. Ltd
(Mainland China)

Model: DM-TG-023
Description: 7in, glass-film-film structure; five or 10 touch points; 85% transmittance; 7H surface hardness; 100Hz data refresh rate; I2C interface; Goodfix, FocalTech, Elan, SIS or Atmel ICs; COF, COB; 3.3 or 5VDC driving voltage; 0.7m glass, 0.125mm PET thickness

Palm Technology Co. Ltd
(Taiwan)

Model: PT0708048TC-D101
Description: 7in, glass-film structure; 800x480 pixels; 81% typical transmittance; ≥6H surface hardness; 165x104.44x5.2mm TFT module, 152.4x91.44mm active area; 191.6x124.6mm

Top Standard Industrial Ltd
(Hong Kong)

Model: TSP-043-01
Description: 4.3in; two touch points; <0.1N input force; >88% transmittance; >6H surface hardness; SPI, IIC or USB interface; 3.3V operating voltage; >35 million touches