Change Is the Only Constant

摘要

As referred to in the title of this editorial,~1 the rate of change in the touch industry continues to accelerate. Projected-capacitive (pro-cap) touch technology is the ideal poster-child for this rapid change, going from less than $20 million in worldwide sales in 2006 to well over $2 billion in 2010. That's a lOOx change, or 10,000% in 4 years! Even the name is changing from "projected capacitive" to just "capacitive" because surface-capacitive touch technology is rapidly becoming irrelevant (only single-touch, hard to integrate, expensive, etc.). Pro-cap is well on the way to displacing analog-resistive, which has been the dominant touch technology for over 30 years. In terms of growth in the overall touch industry, TPK Touch Solutions, a company founded in 2003 and a name that was unknown before 2007, is now the largest supplier of touch screens in the world, with 2010 revenues of over $2 billion (according to DigiTimes).