E Ink, Chilin Technology announce joint partnership

SID Display Week 2010, SEATTLE, USA: E Ink Corp., the leading developer and producer of electronic paper display technology, and Chilin Technology Corp., a leading manufacturer of vertically integrated flat panel displays, have announced a partnership to bring low-power industrial and other specialized electrophoretic displays to the marketplace.

The co-operation between the two companies enables solutions that are highly integrated, easy to use and install, and tailored to unique customer environments.

The partnership makes the patented E Ink Vizplex imaging film available to Chilin for mass production, distribution, and sales to consumers. The collaboration not only expands E Ink’s product offerings but also leverages Chilin’s extensive ability to engineer and manufacture low-power, customized solutions for the industrial market.

Chilin has a history of incorporating the latest technology advances such as RF/Zigbee, barcode functionality, RFID, and advanced sensors into its offerings. The agreement entails greater cooperation between the two firms to expand the rapidly growing ePaper business.

E Ink is the leading developer of EPD technologies, leveraging a vast portfolio of patents related to ePaper. This joint effort combines Chilin’s expertise in developing custom displays and turnkey solutions with E Ink’s unique low-power, paper-like, sunlight readable, lightweight displays.

“Electrophoretic display modules from Chilin meet the low-power, high readability requirements of the industrial markets,” according to Sriram Peruvemba, Vice President of Global Marketing and Sales at E Ink Corp. “Solutions with E Ink and Chilin technology reduce dependency on paper, printed labels, and large batteries.”

This co-operation will open the door to new small- and medium-sized display opportunities in areas as diverse as logistics, signage, medical devices, automation, smart labels, manufacturing, and data collection. According to market research firm DisplaySearch, the e-paper market is expected to reach $9 billion by 2018.

“Our partnership with E Ink makes electrophoretic active matrix and direct drive displays accessible to the expanding demands in the industrial and specialized sectors,” said YG Hsu, President of Chilin Technology. “By bundling flexible engineering services and value focused manufacturing into one operation, we hope to create a one-stop-shop for our customers.”

One target application for this effort is industrial controls or mobile industrial applications where the low-power and daylight readability qualities of an electronic paper display provide value. Another example use is shop owners struggling to manage in-store product price information in a timely and economical manner. Joint solutions in the electronic shelf label space support dynamic and accurate updates of in-store information displays.

E Ink and Chilin displays will be demonstrated this week at the SID conference in Seattle, Washington at the E Ink booth (#1507). Jointly developed products will be going into production later this year.