If there's anything more appealing than a rumor saying iPhone price drop, it's this: cheaper touchscreens for devices like the iPhone. Which, naturally, implies a price drop for Apple's phone as well. Softpedia has learned that Taiwan display specialist AU Optronics have allegedly developed a less expensive touchscreen technology that could potentially cut the price on several handsets, including Apple's.

An Economic Daily News report (via electronista) says that AU Optronics and their partner firm, Cando, have developed this single-layer, integrated touchscreen display that costs around 40 percent less to produce than what Apple is currently shipping in from the Germans (more on that below).

More than that, the same source also reveals that several smartphone manufacturers are already interested in implementing the new touchscreens, among which HP, Motorola, Nokia, and Dell are mentioned.

It is only logical to presume that Apple will indeed want to count in its iPhone and iPod touch for the new displays. However, there's no solid proof, or official word from either of the aforementioned companies, that such touchscreens are to be implemented into existing touchscreen handsets today.

It is, however, a fact that Cando has invested heavily in developing touchscreen panels, spending close to $100 million on a manufacturing plant to produce larger screens, among which a 12.1-inch panel is in due out for notebooks.

As for Apple's current touchscreen technology, the company ships its screens from Germany. Lately however, David Sieger, of Eye On Apple, talked of a mysterious portable device "as perhaps Apple's rival product to the Intel Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC ) initiative," mentioning that 5.2-inch touch screen displays from a German company called Balda were being shipped to Cupertino.

The details were scarce and so the rumor expanded on that, but after "talking to several sources close to the secretive project," more details had emerged regarding the new Apple device, which could confirm its existence (at least as blue-prints in the labs over in Cupertino).

While the identity of the device was "still shrouded in mystery," Sieger noted at the time, talk with people close to the project revealed the following:

- the new Apple device is described as just a tad larger than the iPhone;
- it features a touch-screen;
- it's supposed to best suit a two-hand manipulation.

It is clear that Apple is no stranger to what's going on in the touchscreen field today. Whether it's going to adopt AUO's tech or not remains to be seen. More as the events unfold.