Touch-enabled Mobile Devices Will Drive Worldwide Cover Glass Shipments to More than 2.5 billion by 2017, According to NPD DisplaySearch

Sort Date: 03052013

Santa Clara, California – March 5, 2013 – The growth of touch-enabled mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablet PCs, will drive worldwide cover glass shipments to more than 1.5 billion in 2013 and more than 2.5 billion by 2017, according to the new Touch Panel Cover Glass Report from NPD DisplaySearch.  Cover glass shipments increased 44% in 2012, with more than three-quarters of that growth coming from mobile phones. 

In 2012, mobile phone cover glass shipments increased 40% Y/Y, accounting for 84% of total shipments.  Fueled by smartphone adoption, mobile phones are on track to remain the dominant driver for cover glass, with shipments forecast to reach more than 2 billion by 2017. However, with increasing global smartphone penetration, growth is expected to slow to 21% Y/Y in 2014.

Tablet PCs account for only 14% of cover glass shipments in 2014, but they are expected to grow rapidly, reaching 200 million in 2013 and nearly double that by 2017. Touch penetration is effectively 100% in tablet PCs, and they have larger screen sizes than smartphones. Therefore, tablet PCs will have an even higher impact on the shipment area and revenue for cover glass.

Figure: Worldwide Cover Glass Shipment Growth/Decline

Source: NPD DisplaySearch Touch Panel Cover Glass Report

“Mobile phones and tablet PCs are the two largest applications requiring touch screen capabilities and are the most critical applications to the cover glass market,” said Calvin Hsieh, research director, NPD DisplaySearch.  “One of the main market drivers is projected capacitive touch. Cover glass is not necessarily a functional component for projected capacitive touch, unless it uses the one glass solution (OGS), but almost every brand has designed products with cover glass since Apple started the trend.”

Cover glass has not been adopted as rapidly in the notebook PC market. Cover glass shipments for notebook PCs in 2013 are expected to be 42 million, growing to almost 124 million by 2017.  This growth depends on how Windows 8 is adopted by consumers.

“We expect touch, and thus cover glass, penetration in the notebook market to be about 12% in 2013, with the one glass solution (OGS) being the most widely adopted,” said Hsieh.  “Penetration is limited by high touch module costs, although some models like the Mac Book Pro use cover glass for design reasons. If lower cost solutions such as OGS were to be widely adopted then penetration could be significantly higher.”

The Touch Panel Cover Glass Report examines the cover glass demand, supply chain, and finishing process for major IT and CE applications such as mobile phones, tablet PCs, and notebook PCs. For more information please contact Charles Camaroto at 1.888.436.7673 or 1.516.625.2452, e-mail contact@displaysearch.com or contact your regional DisplaySearch office in China, Japan, Korea or Taiwan or more information.

About NPD DisplaySearch
NPD DisplaySearch, part of The NPD Group, provides global market research and consulting specializing in the display supply chain, including trend information, forecasts and analyses developed by a global team of experienced analysts with extensive industry knowledge. NPD DisplaySearch supply chain expertise complements sell-through information from The NPD Group, thereby providing a true end-to-end view of the display supply chain from materials and components to shipments of electronic devices with displays to sales of major consumer and commercial channels. For more information, visit us at www.displaysearch.com/. Read our blog at www.displaysearchblog.com/ and follow us on Twitter at @DisplaySearch.

About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group provides global information and advisory services to drive better business decisions.  By combining unique data assets with unmatched industry expertise, we help our clients track their markets, understand consumers, and drive profitable growth.  Sectors covered include automotive, beauty, entertainment, fashion, food/foodservice, home, office supplies, sports, technology, toys, video games, and wireless.  For more information, visit www.npd.com/ and npdgroupblog.com.  Follow us on Twitter: @npdtech and @npdgroup.