Qualcomm and Teleepoch Enter Into a 3G CDMA Subscriber Unit License Agreement, October 6, 2007

MTN chooses Cambridge Broadband Networks for multi-service wireless network in Rwanda, October 6, 2007

Brazilian government to publish 3G bidding rules soon, October 6, 2007

KTF 3G service suffers from technical problems, October 6, 2007

Argentina’s Personal lunches 3G service in Rosario, October 6, 2007

Russia has it's first 3G network, October 6, 2007

AT&T could drop Alcatel-Lucent as 3G mobile network supplier, October 6, 2007

Enea Extends License Agreement with ZTE for 3G Handsets, October 2, 2007

LG to unveil premium handsets in Brazil, October 2, 2007

KTF 3G subscribers doubled in less than 3 months, October 2, 2007

3G policy in India will be non-uniform, October 2, 2007

- previous news

Apple's iPhone will Drive Demand for Touchscreen Vendors

January 17, 2007

The recently published report from the Handset Component Technologies service at Strategy Analytics, "Apple iPhone: Catalyst for Capacitive Touchscreen-Only Phones to Balloon to 115 Million Units within Two Years," assesses the impact that the iPhone will have on component vendors, especially manufacturers of touchscreen products.

The much anticipated iPhone has the appearance of a phone rather than an iPod and, if the demo given by Steve Jobs at MacWorld is anything to go by, will sell in the millions as soon as it hits the stores in the US in June, 2007. As for the specifications of the iPhone, there are still more questions than answers. We know it is going to be quad band, not 3G, that it will have a large touchscreen and only one physical button, a 2MP camera, Bluetooth, WiFi and 4GB or 8GB of memory. However, the real differentiator is the capacitive touchscreen, and associated user interface, which sets it apart from other phones and makes it an extremely intuitive device.

"The introduction of the iPhone leads us to strengthen our existing view that the market for touchscreen phones is set to take off very soon," according to Stuart Robinson, Director of the Handset Component Technologies service at Strategy Analytics. Robinson adds, "Many companies including Synaptics, ALPS, Cypress, Quantum Research and Immersion can expect to receive far more interest in their touchscreen technologies in coming months."

Stephen Entwistle, VP of the Strategy Analytics Strategic Technologies Practice, adds, "Demand for the iPhone and its imitators is likely to bring the cost of capacitive touchscreens down from the current $5 to about $2 or$3 within 2 years."