According to statistics from market research firm Omdia, in 2020, in-cell touch controls (including LCD in-cell, LCD on-cell, AMOLED on-cell) will account for more than 85% of mobile phone applications, and more than half of the others will be Apple’s The GF2 structure occupies, and the proportion of the external touch on the mobile phone is less than 7%. As the technology matures, in-cell touch will expand its application in tablets and laptops. It is estimated that this year's in-cell touch panel market will account for more than 15%.
In-cell touch, especially self-contained in-cell touch, its manufacturing process is completed simultaneously during the LCD panel array process, and the panel manufacturer has an absolute dominant position in self-contained in-cell. Therefore, panel makers will not be willing to apply in-cell touch only to mobile phone products. Omdia observes that with self-contained in-cell support for active pens, in-cell touch is rapidly expanding to tablet computers. It is expected that in-cell tablet panel shipments this year will be close to 20 million, accounting for more than 15% .
Next year, self-contained in-cell touch will be further expanded to the field of notebooks. Although LGD and Sharp have already produced in-cell notebook panels at this stage, the overall shipment volume is still small. With the support of active pen support and the WQHD resolution can be achieved, Omdia predicts that in-cell will grow significantly in the notebook market in 2021. It is estimated that shipments will grow by 100% compared to 2020, which will account for the overall notebook market, it will reach 10%.
On the other hand, panel manufacturers are also trying to introduce in-cell into the automotive application field. From the perspective of car manufacturers, although in-cell has the advantages of thinness, narrow bezel, high light transmittance, etc., it is only a small part of the car, and the car regulations are strictly certified, so although in-cell car touch Mass production is controlled, but shipments are still very small. Omdia said that with the large-scale and curved design concepts of car manufacturers and car tier1 factories, the demand and advantages of in-cell are being enlarged. The panels of updated or new models of car center consoles use in-cell The proportion has increased significantly. In the past, there were two separate screens in front of the driver's seat, so there was no need for touch as part of the dashboard. However, the design combines the dashboard and the center console to form a whole strip of screen. At this time, each area of the screen is required to have a touch function. Due to the shape characteristics of the screen, in-cell is better than traditional external touch Control has more advantages. AUO and Innolux have both launched in-cell touch car panels and actively promoted them to car manufacturers.
Omdia said that the panel factory pursues product value-added, to get rid of the single display function of the panel, and let the panel become a platform for the integration of various functions is the future development direction of the panel factory, and the panel factory will also upgrade from a simple manufacturer to a system platform integrator.
