Demand for touchscreen mobiles on the rise

(Yuri Arcurs/shutterstock.com)

Mobile phones with clunky number-based keyboards and tiny screens are quickly becoming obsolete in today's modern world.

Consumers are being seduced by mobile phones with intuitive touchscreen interfaces and fluid finger-based interaction -- technology that is no longer relegated to high-end smartphones.

Mobile phones with clunky number-based keyboards and tiny screens are quickly becoming obsolete in today's modern world. Consumers are being seduced by mobile phones with intuitive touchscreen interfaces and fluid finger-based interaction - technology that is no longer relegated to high-end smartphones.

Sales of touchscreen-equipped mobile phones are expected to increase by 97 percent in 2010. By 2013 more than 80 percent of the devices sold in developed markets (such as North America and Western Europe) will use touchscreen technology.

"Touchscreens are no longer the preserve of high-end devices and are now being included in many midrange phones as more companies have been driving the consumer market for affordable touchscreen phones," said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner in a March 4 press release.

"As phone capabilities increase, consumers are becoming much more aware of the benefits of touch interfaces, and vendors are responding."

Gartner predicts that 2010 will be a key year for mobile touchscreen innovation. Increased spending on research and development within the mobile will result in the advancement of touchscreen innovation. These advances will also increase touchscreen adoption across a wider range of products in the consumer electronics market.