A figure was recently thrown around that revealed that 20 percent of all notebooks sold during the first quarter of the year were the models that included touchscreens.
Now, however, a new research has floated up that shows that the first story is only partially true.
Displaybank, a market research firm estimates that a total of 4.57 million touch-enabled units sold between January to March this year. And this points to a 51.8 percent increase compared to the previous quarter.
But in terms of overall shipments, this amount only represents 10 percent of the total notebook market, and not 20 percent as has been previously claimed — having said that, hardware makers like ASUS, Acer and Lenovo do want to hit the 20 percent mark.
The trend is set to continue throughout the year, and supply issues are sorted out.
Display panel makers have been somewhat reluctant to produce excess touchscreen panels for laptops, lest slow sales translate to a fall in prices. And this has left PC makers, particularly notebook manufacturers in a bit of a flux.
Microsoft, on the other hand, has clarified on more than one occasion that the lack of touch-enabled devices was one of the factors that contributed to the slow uptake of Windows 8.
Redmond’s objection was corroborated by several market research firms and even a few analysts joined in and said the success of Windows 8 on the traditional PC front (notebooks and ultrabooks, in particular) depended heavily on how many touchscreen devices hit store shelves.
