ABI Research: 97% of smartphones are expected to use touch screens in 2016

According to foreign media reports, a new report released by market research company ABI Research said that by 2016, 97% of smartphones will use touch screens. In contrast, in 2006, only 7% of smartphones were equipped with touch screens. "It is the changes in screen and touch technology that have promoted the rapid development of the smartphone market." The report said, "The more economical resistive touch technology is generally replaced by the more sophisticated projected capacitive touch technology. The latter first appeared on Apple iPhone."

Moreover, low-end mobile devices are now also using touch technology, which further increases the market penetration of this technology. "Low-cost capacitive touch controllers use a single layer instead of a two-layer sensor, thus saving 30% in cost, thus knocking on the door of the low-end feature phone market," said Kevin Burden, vice president of mobile devices at ABI Research.

Market research firm Gartner said in a recent research brief that Google's Android has a 43.4% share of the global smartphone market, ranking first. Nokia Symbian has a market share of 22.1%, Apple iOS has a market share of 18.2%, RIM BlackBerry has a market share of 11.7%, Samsung Bada has a market share of 1.9%, and Microsoft has a market share of 1.6%. In the past year, the market share of RIM BlackBerry and Nokia Symbian has declined significantly. Nokia has agreed to abandon Symbian and MeeGo in favor of Microsoft Windows Phone. Nokia phones equipped with this operating system are expected to be available at the end of this year. However, it is not clear whether the new software platform can curb or reverse Nokia's declining market share.

"Smartphone sales will continue to grow at the expense of feature phones," said Roberta Cozza, an analyst at Gartner. "In mature markets, consumers will prefer entry-level and mid-range Android smartphones over feature phones due to strong promotions by mobile operators and manufacturers."