Total touch screen shipments increases 29 percents year-over-year in 2009 to settle in at 606 million units, according to market research firm DisplaySearch, which just released its Touch Panel Market Analysis report.

"Touch screen penetration has been rapidly increasing in mobile phone, PMP/MP3, portable navigation, and other applications. Over the next several years, touch screens will undergo strong growth in large-size applications such as all-in-one PCs, Mini-note/slate PCs, and education/training,” noted Jennifer Colegrove, PhD, Director of Display Technologies at DisplaySearch.

Apple's iPhone and iPod touch played a big role in popularizing capacitive touch technology, and with the iPad joining the fray, DisplaySearch projects that capacitive touch screens will for the first time pass resistive touch technology to become the leading touch technology in 2010, as measured in revenues.

The emerging tablet market looks to play a big role in pushing touch screen technology, but in the meantime, mobile phones still lead the charge. According to DisplaySearch, mobile phones are the biggest application for touch screens in terms of unit shipments and now account for over a quarter of the overall market penetration.