Monthly Archives: September 2015

Apple Pencil and Active Pen Market Forecast

September 9, 2015

Today Apple announced its new iPad Pro with an active pen, which Apple branded it as “Apple Pencil”.

Figure 1: Apple pencil announcement

Apple pencil

Photo by: Techcrunch.

One year ago, in Touch Display Research article published in SID Information Display Journal July/Aug 2014 issue,  Dr. Jennifer Colegrove wrote, “In 2007, when Apple released the first iPhone with a projected-capacitive touch screen, it had the benefit of multi-touch, zero-force touch, good durability, etc.  Referring to the first iPhone at the Macworld Expo in 2007, Steve Jobs told his audience, “Nobody wants a stylus.  So let’s not use a stylus.  We’re going to use the best pointing device in the world.  We’re going to use a pointing device that we’re all born with – born with 10 of them.  We’re going to use our fingers.”  Job’s point of reference for this statement was the old resistive touch pen.  Since 2011, Apple has been investing heavily in active pens, and it’s my strong belief that Apple will release an active pen soon.

Now, 14 months later, our forecast becomes reality.

While finger touch is intuitive, active-pen writing is accurate, easier, and can add a personal touch.  Pen input is very useful in education and in certain types of language input, as well as in medical, financial, industrial, and content creation or markup applications.  Touch Display Research defines an active pen as one with an electronic circuit.  Some active pens have an integrated battery in them, some not.  A passive pen has neither an electronic circuit nor a battery.  According to our research, there are nine types of active-pen technologies and six passive-pen technologies, as summarized in figure here.

Figure 2: Active pens and passive pens are compared in terms of technologies, pen tips, batteries, and sensing interfaces.

active pen report table

Source: Touch Display Research, Active pen technologies, supply chain and market forecast 2014 report.

Active-pen technology is superior to passive-pen technology in terms of accuracy, pressure sensing, and ability to draw fine lines.  Active-pen usage should therefore experience rapid growth in the next several years.  In the Active Pen Technologies, Supply Chain and Market Forecast report, Touch Display Research forecasts that the market for active-pen writing modules (including pen sensor, one pen, and the controller IC) will increase from $931 million in 2014 to $4.17 billion in 2020.

Figure 3. Active pen market forecast to 2020

active pen forecast with TDR

Source: Touch Display Research, Active Pen Technologies, Supply Chain and Market Forecast Report, 2014

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team

Cima Touch—joint venture of Foxconn and Cima Nanotech for ITO replacement

September 3, 2015

I just came back from the trip of Touch Taiwan and IDMC (International Display Manufacturing Conference) 2015 conference.  Earlier this week, we blogged about LG Display keynote on flexible OLED display, and Konica Minolta keynote on flexible OLED lighting, and AUO quantum dot TV adopted 3M and Nanosys material.

Another hot trend at Touch Taiwan 2015 is the ITO-replacement material for touch panels. At Touch Taiwan, Cima Nanotech announced its new joint venture with Foxconn: Cima Touch. Both companies will sell SANTE® ProTouch™ modules through Cima Touch.

Figure 1: Cima demonstrates 65” projected capacitive at Touch Taiwan 2015

Cima 65 inch with TDR

Photo by: Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, Touch Display Research Inc.

Last year, Cima Nanotech and Amdolla showed a 42” projected capacitive touch screen at SID 2014.

In the newly published “ITO-replacement: non ITO transparent conductor technologies and market forecast 2015 report”, 5th edition, Touch Display Research analyzes metal mesh, silver nanowire, conductive polymer, carbon nanotube, graphene and other transparent conductor materials. Touch Display Research forecasts that the ITO-replacement market will reach $10.9 Billion by 2022.

Figure 2. ITO-replacement: non-ITO transparent conductor market forecast 2015 to 2022

ITO replacement forecast2015

Source: Touch Display Research, ITO replacement: non-ITO Transparent Conductor Technologies and Market Forecast 2015 Report, 2015

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team

Konica Minolta keynote about flexible OLED lighting at Touch Taiwan 2015

September 2, 2015

I just came back from the trip of Touch Taiwan and IDMC (International Display Manufacturing Conference) 2015 conference.

On August 27th, Konica Minolta’s manager, Mr. Takeshi Hakii gave a keynote presentation about mass production of flexible OLED lighting. He introduced Konica Minolta’s new plant for mass production of plastic substrate flexible OLED lighting panels. The new plant adopted unique roll-to-roll manufacturing method and can produce plastic white OLED and color-tunable OLED panels.

Figure 1: Konica Minolta Hakii-san Keynote at Touch Taiwan, IDMC 2015

Konica Touch Taiwan Keynote

Photo by: Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, Touch Display Research Inc.

Hakii-san also discussed the technology challenges of flexible OLED lightings for high efficiency and long life time.

In the newly published “Flexible OLED Display Technologies and Market Forecast 2015 Report”, Touch Display Research analyzes flexible OLED display, flexible OLED lighting, flexible touch screen, and flexible battery technologies.

Figure 2. Flexible OLED display 2015 report

Flexible OLED 2015 report cover

Source: Touch Display Research, Flexible OLED Display Technologies and Market Forecast 2015 Report, August 2015

More analysis of Touch Taiwan and IDMC 2015 are in the “Touch and Emerging Display” monthly report.

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team

 

AUO Quantum Dot TV Adopted 3M and Nanosys QDEF

September 1st, 2015

Today, 3M, Nanosys and AUO announced that AUO will commercialize quantum dot TV with 3M and Nanosys’ QDEF by end of this year.

Actually, I saw the AUO’s 85” quantum dot TV last week at Touch Taiwan and IDMC (International Display Manufacturing Conference) 2015 conference.  The 85” quantum dot TV won the Gold Panel Award at Touch Taiwan 2015 exhibition.

Figure 1: AUO’s 85” quantum dot TV won Gold Panel Award at Touch Taiwan 2015

AUO 85 QD TV with TDR

Photo by: Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, Touch Display Research Inc.

The impact of this news is dramatic, since AUO is a panel supplier, they could sell the QD TV panel to any TV brands. This will accelerate the QD TV’s penetration.

In the recently published “Quantum dot display and lighting technologies and market forecast 2015 report”, second edition, Touch Display Research forecast that the quantum dot display and lighting component market will surpass $2 billion by 2016, and reach $10.6 billion by 2025. This report profiles over 60 companies working on quantum dot materials and quantum dot components.

Figure 2. Quantum Dot Display and Lighting component market forecast (2015 to 2025)

QD forecast 2015

Source: Touch Display Research, Quantum Dot Display and Lighting Technologies and Market Forecast 2015 Report

Quantum dot technology could improve Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) dramatically in terms of color gamut, color accuracy and reducing power consumption. This is one of the biggest breakthrough technologies for LCD in recent several years. We forecast quantum dot components will have a rapid penetration into displays and lighting from 2015 to 2025.

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team