Touchscreen PCs could move from the margins to the mainstream as falling LCD prices, advances in technology and applications in high growth markets prompt computer makers to take a closer look at the sector.
Their interest follows the wild success of Apple's iPhone, which has led to a parade of knock-off cellphones by everyone from industry leader Nokia, Taiwan's HTC and now Research In Motion, whose BlackBerry Storm began flying off store shelves this month.
The niche could get a further boost from Microsoft, which has said it plans to support touchscreen technology in Windows 7, the successor to its Vista operating system.
"These computers are challenging the way we interact with a computer," said Bryan Ma, an IDC analyst.
"The phenomenon hasn't really taken off yet, and we're still seeing just a few early starters, but it'll be very interesting to see what's going to happen."
Touchscreen PCs, which use a specialized kind of liquid crystal display (LCD), could take off quickly if designers find applications that take advantage of their greater flexibility over keyboards, said DisplaySearch analyst Jennifer Colegrove.
Writing text in non-letter-based languages such as Chinese is a good example.
"Keyboards are not optimized for typing Chinese and other east Asian languages," she said.
"Test audiences who have had to type in Chinese have been extremely receptive of touch screen PCs that they can write on. This could potentially mean massive inroads for PC vendors in the massive Chinese market."
Low cost boost
Touchscreen PCs have been around for more than a decade, but their high cost and limited functionality have kept them out of the mainstream, leaving them limited to specialty devices such as those often seen in restaurants and supermarkets.
Touchscreen notebooks currently account for less than 1 percent of all notebook shipments in Asia, according to IDC.
But recent advances in technology including improved picture quality and better sensitivity to touch, combined with falling LCD prices, are increasing the viability of touchscreens.
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