Global sales of touchscreen mobile phones to zoom in 2010: Gartner

Touchscreen mobile devices will grow by a whopping 96.8 per cent in 2010 as they are no longer the preserve of well-heeled, high-end users since more companies have been making affordable touchscreen phones.

The worldwide market for touchscreen mobile devices will surpass 362.7 million units in 2010, a 96.8 per cent increase from 2009 sales of 184.3 million units, according to research firm Gartner, Inc.

By 2013, touchscreen mobile devices will account for 58 per cent of all mobile device sales worldwide and more than 80 per cent in developed markets such as North America and Western Europe.

"Touchscreens are no longer the preserve of high-end devices and are now being included in many midrange phones as more companies have been driving the consumer market for affordable touchscreen phones," said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner. "As phone capabilities increase, consumers are becoming much more aware of the benefits of touch interfaces, and vendors are responding."

With mobile phone vendors now focused on integrating touch technologies, many are now going a step further and beginning to deliver user interfaces (UIs) that are truly optimized for touch input. They are also increasing their software skills to deliver deeper integration of touch UIs with the underlying platform, rather than software overlays.

Cozza said that the success of the iPhone has shown the viability of capacitive touch technology in mobile phones, which enables more-natural, responsive and intuitive gestures. Gartner predicts that capacitive and resistive touchscreens will coexist in the short term in mobile phones.