Natick, MA, January 25, 2005 -- A market report by Venture Development Corp, The North American Markets for Industrial Electronic Monitors and Operator Interface Terminals, 5th ed, finds a continuing shift toward greater use of touchscreens instead of keypads as input devices for operator interface terminals.

Current and forecast shipment shares of industrial electronic operator interface terminals with keypads, touchscreens, and both, to North American markets, are shown below:

Current Market (% of Dollar Volumes)

• Touchscreens: 53.8%


• Keypads: 29.8%


• Both: 16.4%

Expected 2006 Market (% of Dollar Volumes)

• Touchscreens: 56.3%


• Keypads: 26.2%


• Both: 17.5%

Touchscreens provide an easy-to-use graphic interface for data or command inputs and occupy less space than a keyboard. The incorporation of a small keypad or shortcut keys with a touchscreen increases the usability of the operator interface terminal, and vendors are introducing such products. Overall, however, it is seen that the share of shipments with keypads is expected to decrease.

As was the case in VDC's prior study (4th ed, 2000), resistive technology accounts for the vast majority of touchscreen shipments. This is due to the cost-effectiveness and reliability of the technology. Capacitive touchscreens have gained some market share since 2000 and many suppliers offer both resistive and capacitive technologies. Capacitive touchscreens are highly durable, but are more expensive than resistive touchscreens and cannot be used with gloves. Other technologies, such as near-field imaging, infrared, surface acoustic wave, and guided acoustic wave are used in some terminals, but are generally less capable of surviving harsh environments, or are too costly.