China-based makers' touch panel shipments for handsets are expected to reach 125 million units in the first quarter of 2013, up 5.9% sequentially, largely due to demand for smartphones in China, according to Digitimes Research's estimation.

Additionally, the demand in China is expected to help drive up global touch panel shipments for handsets to approximately 290 million units during the quarter, up 0.6% on quarter, Digitimes Research estimates.

Shipments for touch panels used in tablet products are expected to drop 2.5% sequentially by the end of the quarter to 49.92 million units. However, China-based touch panel makers' shipments to the tablet segment are expected to reach 13.76 million units, up 44.7% on quarter while Taiwan-based makers' are expected to drop to 23.27 million units, down 24.1% on quarter.

Global shipments for touch panels used in notebook products meanwhile are expected to reach 2.77 million units during the first quarter, up 213.3% on year, Digitimes Research predicts.