E-Paper display revenues forecast to reach $9.6 billion by 2018

AUSTIN, USA: In its recently released E-Paper Displays Report, DisplaySearch forecasts that the total e-paper display market will grow to 1.8 billion units and $9.6 billion in revenues in 2018, from 22 million units and $431 million in revenues in 2009, for a CAGR of 41 percent for revenues and 64 percent for units.

The market for e-paper displays — which are found in e-books, e-textbooks, e-newspapers, e-magazines, mobile phones, electronic shelf labels, point–of-purchase and public signage displays, displays in smart and credit cards, clothes and other wearable items, and other applications—has taken off this past year, becoming one of the few shining stars in the economic downturn.

“E-paper displays are taking off with consumers due to their low power consumption and ease of reading, especially in sunlight,” noted Jennifer Colegrove, Director of Display Technologies at DisplaySearch.“In addition, e-paper displays are 'green' because they reduce paper consumption, and electronic shelf labels can save time and labor costs by enabling dynamic pricing in stores.”

Fig. 1: E-Paper Display Forecast
Source: DisplaySearch E-Paper Displays Report

E-book displays currently account for the majority of e-paper revenues. Nearly all e-book devices currently in the market use E Ink’s electrophoretic display technology, with a small number—such as Fujitsu’s FLEPia—using cholesteric LCD (liquid crystal display) technology. Other electrophoretic display suppliers SiPix and Bridgestone have announced that they will also commercialize e-book displays.

Additional findings from the DisplaySearch E-Paper Displays Report:
* The number of e-book/e-text books (5-9.x”) models went from one model in 2003-2004 to three in 2006, to about five in 2007. In 2009, the number of models jumped to about 20. The e-paper display market for e-books and e-textbooks (5-10”) is forecast to grow from about 1 million units in 2008 to 77 million units in 2018.
* Color e-book displays recently entered the market with Fujitsu’s 8” FLEPia e-book. Due to the high price and technical challenges, DisplaySearch forecasts color e-books will not reach high volumes before 2011.
* Electrophoretic was the leading technology in 2008, and DisplaySearch forecasts that the technology will continue to lead the e-paper display market growth for this forecast period, and reach $5.8 billion by 2018.
* Bi-stable LCD was the second largest e-paper display technology by revenues in 2008; DisplaySearch forecasts this segment will reach $2.5 billion by 2018.
* MEMS (micro-electro mechanical system) display technology will expand from small size mobile phone displays to color and medium size e-book displays over the next few years.
* Electrochromic displays are targeting low-cost, high-volume smart label and card display applications. DisplaySearch forecasts that electrochromic will become the leading technology in terms of unit volume for e-paper displays by 2013.

Table 1: Comparison of E-Book Display Technologies
Source: DisplaySearch E-Paper Displays Report

Electronic paper's green credentials will boost adoption

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: The use of electronic paper, also known as 'e-paper', is increasing as a result of its ultra low power consumption, a similar user experience to real paper and 'green' benefits, according to a new report from Gartner Inc.

E-paper is a display medium intended to mimic the appearance or ordinary ink on paper while being rewritable. Gartner said that despite disadvantages of poor color and refresh rate characteristics, e-paper will have significant benefits over other display media and will positively impact the traditional paper market, the retail display sector, a number of consumer markets and the office environment in years to come.

“E-paper does have has some barriers to overcome before gaining credibility with the mainstream market,” said SJ Chae, senior research director at Gartner. “However, it is generating a great deal of interest and we expect adoption to increase steadily over the next few years as the technology improves.”

Chae said that one of the key drivers for e-paper adoption is the way it is continuously evolving to include new technologies. Recent additions include touchscreen, wireless connection and rewritable colour support capability into devices using e-paper.

Multiple e-book readers have also been introduced and applications of the technology are now expanding beyond e-book readers to include device displays for phones, clocks and watches.

E-paper also has the advantage of providing a similar user experience to real paper display. Its thinness gives users the benefits of a portable, paper-thin rewritable display while its readability in bright sunlight gives a similar user experience to that of reading a paper display.

According to Gartner, low power consumption is the main driver for e-paper adoption in most cases and this is enabling initial applications in signage (for retail and roadside applications), static displays (e-books) and small information-centric screens.

Low power consumption also boosts e-paper’s green credentials. Its potential environmental benefits are significant, resulting in the saving of trees, preventing the generation of waste water and reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases.

Despite these benefits, there are a number of disadvantages to e-paper that must be overcome in order for it to gain more widespread adoption. Overall, e-paper content is limited and the current colour capabilities of e-paper displays are poor.

E-paper is also typically weak in its handling of moving images and a compromise must be found between the requirements for full-motion video and low power consumption.

Gartner believes that the cost of e-paper displays will need to fall further if it is to act as a viable mainstream alternative to print media, especially as the falling costs and increasing quality of alternative technologies –- such as OLED and LCD –- could moderate the growth potential of e-paper.

Some examples of e-paper technologies include:
-- Electrophoretic e-paper, where the image is generated by an array of electrically charged particles suspended in fluid.

When current is applied, the particles are moved to the opposite electrode side. Switch the field, and the particles will move to the other side, and this will change the colour and finally change the images. Electrophoretic technology from E Ink is currently used in commercial devices such as the Amazon Kindle, Sony Librie reader and Plastic Logic's e-newspaper

-- Electronic Liquid Powder (ELP) from Bridgestone, which uses a similar electrophoretic approach to E Ink's e-paper, but with the ELP particles suspended in air instead of fluid.

-- Cholesteric LCD, an LCD variant, such as the technology from Kent Displays that is used in Fujitsu’s new e-book reader FLEPia, using multiple layers of different colour LCD crystals to generate the image.

Prime View reaches agreement to acquire E Ink!

TAIPEI, TAIWAN & CAMBRIDGE, USA: Prime View International (PVI), a leading small and medium display provider and the world’s highest volume supplier of ePaper display modules, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire E Ink Corp., a leader in electronic paper display materials and intellectual property for approximately $215 million.

The new company will expand capacity and develop improvements for ePaper display screens that are easy on the eyes, long-lasting, and highly portable. ePaper is ideal for reading of digital documents which are less wasteful, more convenient and more up-to-date than paper documents.

“The ePaper display module market will grow to over $3 billion by 2013. This market will see further growth with the emergence of color displays and flexible displays, serving eBook/eTextbook, eNewspaper/eMagazine and eDocument markets. Currently, electrophoretic display technology has more than 90% market share in the overall ePaper displays, and E Ink is the #1 supplier of electrophoretic materials," according Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, DisplaySearch’s Director of Display Technologies.

“The market for electronic book devices such as the SONY Reader and Amazon Kindle is forecasted to grow from 1.1 million units in 2008 to 20 million units in 2012, a cumulative annual growth rate of 105% over the four-year period,” said iSuppli analyst Vinita Jakhanwal, “PVI and E Ink enabled this market back in 2005 and they have been the display market leaders ever since.”

“The world is searching for green technology that saves energy and cuts waste and still provides an outstanding experience,” said Scott Liu, Chairman and CEO of PVI, “E Ink’s electronic paper meets those needs, especially in electronic publishing and mobile displays. The people in both companies will unite to provide the world’s best digital reading experience and that will benefit all our customers and end users.”

“Combining E Ink and PVI creates a single public company that is dedicated to electronic paper,” said Russ Wilcox, co-founder, President and CEO of E Ink Corp. “With a common ownership structure, we can get closer to customers around the world, streamline the supply chain, and speed up new product development.”

The deal is the capstone in a transformation at PVI over the past four years to focus on electronic paper displays. In 2005, PVI acquired the ePaper business of Philips Electronics and partnered with E Ink to provide displays for electronic books including the popular SONY Reader and the Amazon Kindle 2 and Kindle DX. PVI also invested heavily in dedicated driver chips and touch screens for ePaper, as well as flexible displays, which will be marketed later this year.

In 2008, PVI bought a 74 percent stake of Hydis Technologies of Korea, quadrupling capacity for the transistor backplanes used in ePaper.

E Ink and PVI currently support nearly 20 eBook manufacturers worldwide. In addition to electronic books, E Ink’s Vizplex imaging film is used in cellphones, signage, smartcards, memory devices, and battery indicators. E Ink sales were $18 million in the first quarter of 2009, up 157 percent over the same quarter in 2008.

With the merger, PVI gains substantial intellectual property and employee talent, while securing supply of a critical component during the rapid growth phase of the market, and adding alliances and relationships across the ePaper and flexible display industry.

E Ink will continue to supply its products across the display industry and will have access to increased operating funds to boost production and accelerate new technology and product developments.

PVI will finance the acquisition with an equity placement and a convertible bond offering led by Taiwanese securities firm KGI. The transaction is subject to shareholder and customary regulatory approval and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Since its inception, E Ink has collaborated with a wide range of partners to develop a global ecosystem for electronic paper displays. E Ink also amassed a portfolio of hundreds of patent applications, including 150 issued in the United States. IEEE Spectrum ranked E Ink’s patent portfolio as number three worldwide for computer peripherals and storage.

In the past 12 months, customers have announced many exciting E Ink-enabled devices.

* Oprah Winfrey endorsed Amazon’s Kindle on live television calling it “her favorite gadget”. Subsequently Amazon’s Kindle 2 has proven highly popular and the Kindle DX enters the eTextbook and eNewspaper space with a large 9.7” screen.
* SONY launched a new PRS-700 Reader with integrated touch screen.
* Chinese astronauts brought the Hanwan N510 eBook into outer space on a recent Shenzhou 7 mission.
* PVI, Epson, LG Display, PolymerVision, Hewlett-Packard and Plastic Logic demonstrated flexible active matrix displays using E Ink Vizplex imaging film.
* E Ink teamed with Esquire Magazine and Ford on the first ePaper animated magazine cover.
* In May 2009, Verizon announced the Samsung Alias 2 cellphone, with a changeable keypad made with E Ink Vizplex imaging film.

E Ink was recognized with top business and industry awards in 2008, including The Smaller Business Association of New England (SBANE) Top Innovator Award; the Boston Business Journal’s List of Boston’s Fastest Growing Companies; and, The FineTech Japan Display Components & Materials Category Grand Award, among others.

E Ink will remain headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., and plans to expand its employee base from 127 to 150 people during 2009.

PVI was advised on the acquisition by investment bank Credit Suisse and law firm Baker & McKenzie. E Ink was advised by investment bank Thomas Weisel Partners and law firm Bingham McCutchen.

E Ink to showcase high-volume, reliable production displays

SAN ANTONIO, USA: E Ink Corp., the leading developer and provider of ePaper, will show a wide variety of products in high-volume production using E Ink Vizplex Imaging Film at the SID Display Week 2009 International Symposium and Exhibition.

eBooks go mainstream
More than 1 million eBooks using E Ink Vizplex Imaging Film are in use today. The combination of low power and readability makes E Ink’s technology ideal for eBook applications and is helping eBooks reach the mainstream market.

The New York Times reviewed both the Amazon Kindle 2 and the Reader Digital Book PRS-700 from Sony in February and said the E Ink display in each is “extremely satisfying to read at long stretches.” Oprah Winfrey called the Amazon Kindle her "favorite new gadget" on her afternoon TV talk show last fall. Late night talk shows, prime time dramas and multiple other mainstream media are referring to eBooks as a common device.

E Ink will demonstrate many of these eBooks featuring E Ink displays at booth #681:
Cybook Gen 3 by Bookeen
Digital Reader 1000S by iRex
eSlick by Foxit
EZ Reader by AstakHandyBOOK N516 by Hanvon
Hanlin eReader V3 by Tianjin Jinke Electronics
Hanlin eReader V8 by Tianjin Jinke Electronics
iLiad 2nd Edition by iRex
Kindle 2 by Amazon
NUUT from Neolux
Reader Digital Book PRS-505 by Sony
Reader Digital Book PRS-700 by Sony
STAReBOOK STK-101 by Staretek

E Ink announces SURF segmented display brand
SURF displays are ultra-thin, rugged and flexible. They are ideal for consumer electronics, medical devices, PC-accessory, display smartcards, capacity indicators, electronic shelf labels, signage and communications applications.

The Alias 2 phone by Samsung, available from Verizon Wireless, was released in May. It is the first phone available in the US to feature a keypad using E Ink SURF displays. This ‘Magic Keypad’ switches between a QWERTY keyboard and standard numeric keypad, depending upon which way you open the dual-flip design. The Alias 2 is ideal for texting.

Esquire magazine created a cover using E Ink SURF displays for its October 2008 edition, creating another mainstream application for electronic ink. The hit TV show CSI New York created an episode based on the technology used in the magazine cover. Art Technology just released two new Phosphor wristwatches featuring E Ink SURF displays.

SURF displays use E Ink Vizplex Imaging Film, which makes all E Ink displays bistable, low-power and reliable. More than Over 15 million products have been shipped using E Ink SURF displays and are in use all over the world.

E Ink innovation
E Ink has a strong IP portfolio and was recently awarded its 150th US patent.

E Ink continues to innovate and improve its technology, demonstrating larger size displays, color, flexible substrates, and higher contrast inks. All these new technologies will help improve the user experience and will be on display at SID 2009. They will increase the number of applications that can take advantage of electronic ink’s benefits, including reduced power consumption and eyestrain. Larger displays and new technologies such as flex and color help fuel the burgeoning market for eBooks, eTextbooks and eNewspapers.

E Ink awards
In the past 60 days, E Ink has won Finetech Japan’s Grand Prize for Advanced Display of the Year 2009, Boston Business Journal’s Pacesetter award for one of the fastest growing companies in Massachusetts and SBANE’s (Smaller Business Association of New England) award for Innovation.

E Ink announces large format display in its electronic prototype kit

CAMBRIDGE, USA: E Ink Corp., the leader in electronic paper display (EPD) technologies, has enhanced its lineup of AM-300 EPD Prototype Kits by adding a 9.7” display to its suite of offerings, enabling development across a wider range of application sizes. This high-resolution, large-size display comes at a time when more companies are turning to EPDs for larger displays for new content delivery, including newspapers, textbooks, notepads, and business documents.

“The success in the eBook space has prompted a lot of interest in eNewspaper and eTextbook applications,” said Sriram Peruvemba, Vice President of Marketing for E Ink. “E Ink Vizplex displays provide the best digital reading experience, and are fast becoming a better alternative to printed paper in certain applications.”

E Ink's EPD technology offers the high contrast look of ink-on-paper and is perfect for mobile devices because it can be read in any lighting condition, including direct sunlight, and at any viewing angle. E Ink's technology is also ideal for other consumer and industrial applications spanning handheld devices, public information and promotional signs. Customers value E Ink's technology for its brightness, and low power - attributes that are similar to that of paper.

With a resolution of 150 pixels per inch (PPI) and the capability of displaying multiple shades of gray, the 9.7" diagonal display has the clarity of newsprint. Once updated, the display image remains visible without energy, which reduces system power consumption by up to 90% compared to traditional LCDs. This third generation, high-resolution developer kit also contains a graphical electronic paper display with pen input.

The Broadsheet AM300 prototype kit is a straightforward and easy way to start working with E Ink technology. The Broadsheet kit enables customers to quickly prototype and develop next generation ePaper products. In addition to the display module, the kit also includes a Linux x86 operating environment, E Ink API software for Broadsheet, various sample images, open source software drivers and applications including support for MMC cards, Bluetooth, and USB.

eBooks using E Ink's high-resolution display technology were first launched in April 2004. Worldwide, over 15 companies have launched eBook products using E Ink Vizplex displays. The 9.7” AM300 will be shipping by end of May and is available now online at http://www.eink.com/kits/index.html for pre-orders.