A-Tops' model CTP176-101-A 10.1in capacitive touch panel has a 217.91x136.6mm active area.

Broadening adoption in smartphones and tablet and notebook PCs has displaced resistive technology.

Performance advantages have positioned capacitive touch panels as the mainstream technology for popular mobile devices, particularly smartphones and tablet PCs. In China, the display category’s revenue share has now surpassed 90 percent. Shipments of resistive kinds for handsets are dropping from 61 million in 2013 to 49 million units the following year and 37 million by 2015.

Capacitive units, which have better gesture recognition, lower power dissipation and longer operating life, are in an upturn. China’s deliveries for the smartphone segment will have hit 575 million units in 2014, surging by nearly 35 percent from the previous year. In 2015, these will rise further to 688 million.

Locally made panels used in tablet and notebook computers, meanwhile, 10 million by end-2014, according to Displaybank. Suppliers hope to take advantage of the climbing requirement for large touch panels for the latter device in the next one or two years.

Based on worldwide shipments in 2014, such screens will have a 23 percent portion from 11 percent in the previous year.

Complementing the local industry’s transition to capacitive touchscreens are initiatives for in-cell technology, which ensures thinner, lighter and higher-resolution displays. The type is adopted in the iPhone and homegrown handset brands Oppo, HTC and Huawei.

Major player Shenzhen Tianma has been developing such panels since 2012 and began low-volume manufacture in early 2014. The company turns out TFT-LCD panels and modules. Many similar specialists, including BOE, are likewise venturing into the category, intensifying competition with touch panel suppliers.

Some makers pursue on-cell R&D, targeting high-end devices such as emerging wearable electronics.

At present, mainland China manufacturers focus on one-glass solution, employing it in more than 80 percent of releases. This will remain the trend in the near term, especially in entry-level and midrange portable electronics, due to the high cost and low qualification ratio of in-cell technology.

Variants below 10.4in currently account for as much as 90 percent of the mainland’s total shipments of touch panels.

Companies utilize mostly locally sourced materials and components. Some turn to overseas providers, especially for drivers, ITO film, polymethyl methacrylate and adhesive.

Input costs have been stable, and will keep prices at current levels in the months ahead.

There are 300 suppliers of touch panels in the mainland. Local companies make up at least 80 percent of the pool, and the rest with investment from Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.

To compete with the latter, manufacturers leverage advantages of low price and short delivery lead time. The mainland’s key players include Laibao Hi-Tech, BOE and Shenzhen Tianma.

Production is done mainly in the Pearl River and Yangtze River Delta regions, and the Bohai Bay Rim Economic Region.

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