On-Cell LCD Touch Panel Shipments Jump on Demand From Low-End, Midrange Smartphones

Demand from the growing entry- and mid-range smartphone segments drove global shipments of on-cell TFT LCD touch panels to more than 20 million in the first half of 2014, compared with shipments of 4.7 million in all of 2013, said DisplaySearch. By 2018, shipments of on-cell TFT LCD panels are expected to reach 129 million, it said. Embedded touch panels of all types -- including in-cell and on-cell TFT LCD, as well as on-cell AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) -- accounted for 20 percent of all mobile phone displays in 2012, 29 percent in 2013 and an expected 32 percent in 2014, DisplaySearch said. Apple and Samsung are the largest customers for in-cell TFT LCD and on-cell AMOLED, said Calvin Hsieh, research director, while on-cell TFT LCD tends to be adopted by other brands. As the smartphone market matures, consumers have grown to expect more features and functions at lower prices, pushing Huawei, Motorola and other brands to adjust product strategies, Hsieh said. “These brands are now cultivating the supply chain for additional touch-embedded panel sources as they adopt on-cell TFT LCD solutions to focus on entry-level and mid-range smartphone segments.” On-cell TFT LCD with single-layer patterning is being used to increase share in the entry-level and mid-range smartphone segments, he said. CPT Technology, HannStar, Innolux and Tianma are among the panel makers that shipped on-cell TFT LCD panels in first half 2014, adopting single-layer patterning “to save photomask fees and to raise yield rates,” Hsieh said. “The initial success of on-cell TFT LCD brings great hope to panel makers that are looking to compete with touch module makers.”