STRATEGY ANALYTICS: Apple's iPhone will Drive Demand for Touchscreen Vendors

Copycat Phones to Boost Revenue for Synaptics and ALPS

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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.

“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.”

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."

About Strategy Analytics

Strategy Analytics, Inc. - a global research and consulting firm - provides timely insights and strategic business solutions to companies operating at the convergence of information, communications and entertainment technologies. With worldwide headquarters in Boston, MA, and principal offices in England, France and Germany, Strategy Analytics focuses on market opportunities and challenges in the areas of Automotive Electronics & Multimedia, Digital Consumer, Wireless Strategies and Enabling Technologies. For more information, see www.strategyanalytics.com