An electronic device includes a touch panel, a position detecting portion, an operating control portion and a detection sensitivity control portion. The position detecting portion detects a close coordinate when sensing that a pointing means comes close to a position on a close plane away from the touch panel by a first distance, and detects a contact coordinate when sensing that the pointing means comes close to a position on a contact plane lying closer to the touch panel than the position on the close plane. The operating control portion controls an operation of a controlled unit based on the close coordinate and the contact coordinate. The detection sensitivity control portion switches detection sensitivity of the position detecting portion from close detection sensitivity to contact detection sensitivity when the position detecting portion senses that the pointing means comes close to the position on the close plane.