The China International Touchscreen Exhibition (C-Touch) was recently held in Shenzhen, China, featuring a number of local and international touch and IC makers. Throughout the exhibition there were several noticeable trends namely a revival of G/G solutions, development of large-size touch screens and further emphasis on niche products.
According to Digitimes Research, touch makers have begun to shift more emphasis to niche markets including the automotive and wearables segments as China's smartphone industry is starting to cool down. China makers specifically are pushing G/G solutions for vehicle applications and are further developing round-shaped modules for wearables.
Makers have also increased investments into fingerprint sensor modules in addition to camera module applications in hopes of providing complete solutions to handset vendors.
Additionally, makers are emphasizing more on production of 20-inch as well as 50- to 70-inch touch solutions, using primarily nanosilver or metal mesh technologies. However, many makers noted they have increased yields for fully laminated G/G and GFF solutions as well as for ITO film.
In terms of IC vendors, China makers are showing more signs of merging in order to create more complete solutions that include IC, driver LCD and touch screen solutions together, with many makers using high-end In-Cell touch panels as part of their arrangement, said Digitimes Research.