[Rasputina]

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090601005656&newsLang=en

TAIPEI, Taiwan & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Prime View International ("PVI") (8069.TW), 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 Corporation, the 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."

Rest of the article at the link.

Really interesting. I'm wondering what they mean by flexible displays?

 

[jaybird123]

Apparently a company called "Plastic Logic" is working on a product with flexible display.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126965.500-flexible-electronic-books-to-hit-market-soon.html

 

[reemixx]

I didn't read the whole article (yes, I'm lazy) but can you imagine what this means for the next Kindle? And the Kindle after that?

It's comforting to know that there are MAJOR efforts going into developing e-ink technology. And it's only just the beginning If they can bring the cost of devices with e-ink screens down and bring out a colour version relatively soon (and assuming Amazon keeps developing its beloved Kindle and releases it world-wide) then I can see global adoption of e-ink reading devices, and specifically the Kindle if Amazon keeps it up.

What's even more exciting is what Sony are going to put out there with this technology, as well as other companies. More competition = a better, cheaper Kindle.

 

[MagicalWingLT]

You guys should take a look at my topic with the videos... I have 2 videos about the e ink... One of them is about newspaper being digitized in 4 years... A thin device that folds out like a real newspaper, and can fold in to a paperback size... So between 4-10 years you'll see everything in digital format...

http://dvice.com/archives/2008/09/plastic_logic_c.php

Well I couldn't find the video, but I did find the article

 

[r0b0d0c]

You guys should take a look at my topic with the videos... I have 2 videos about the e ink... One of them is about newspaper being digitized in 4 years... A thin device that folds out like a real newspaper, and can fold in to a paperback size... So between 4-10 years you'll see everything in digital format...

http://dvice.com/archives/2008/09/plastic_logic_c.php

Well I couldn't find the video, but I did find the article

Interesting concept! That article is from September of 2008 - wonder how the technology is progressing?

I just want to make sure that Amazon stays at the forefront in eBook technology/hardware - I've got FAR too much invested in my KindleBooks to change to something else!

 

[reemixx]

You guys should take a look at my topic with the videos... I have 2 videos about the e ink... One of them is about newspaper being digitized in 4 years... A thin device that folds out like a real newspaper, and can fold in to a paperback size... So between 4-10 years you'll see everything in digital format...

http://dvice.com/archives/2008/09/plastic_logic_c.php

Well I couldn't find the video, but I did find the article

The problem with a lot of this stuff is that, whilst the technology is here (right now!), it's still far too expensive to manufacture. At least for a consumer device. On top of that, consumers aren't ready for it yet. So a lot of it becomes proof of concept, with no real production in it, or for scientific/medical purposes only, long before it gets brought to consumers. If ever.

Fortunately, there are many companies involved in creating e-ink and e-reader technologies right now. Plastic Logic is merely one of them. Chances are we'll be seeing some major changes and advancements in these technologies over the coming few years, which is pretty exciting. Like I said earlier, it's comforting to know there's such interest in this type of technology. That can mean only good things.

 

[MAGreen]

With all the companies working on this, there will be dozens of device choices in a few years. I am hoping that Amazon will be able to keep up. The niche markets that will develop will be interesting. I am wondering if there will be a "winner" who will take the majority market share or if there will be many players on the field. Right now, I don't see any real contenders for Amazon (I am totally biased, though), but that will change in the next few years.

 

[reemixx]

With all the companies working on this, there will be dozens of device choices in a few years. I am hoping that Amazon will be able to keep up. The niche markets that will develop will be interesting. I am wondering if there will be a "winner" who will take the majority market share or if there will be many players on the field. Right now, I don't see any real contenders for Amazon (I am totally biased, though), but that will change in the next few years.

It will depend entirely on the library of content each company has/uses for their reading device (and I'm talking purely e-readers for books / novels / texts / etc, as no doubt there will be many, many other applications for these technologies).

Right now, Amazon is the largest (I think) and definitely the most well known. They offer a LOT of content, and the best part is that they're continually adding new content, and customers can easily request new content by clicking on a single button. Until the day another company rises above Amazon in terms of the sheer scope of content they offer, I don't see Amazon falling away from the #1 spot anytime in the foreseeable future.

New shiny reading devices or not, I'll only be going where the content is. What good is an awesome new reading device if I can't read what I want to on it?

The most exciting thing about all of this R&D into e-readers and e-ink technologies is what Amazon are going to do with it, what direction they're going to take.... And when there will be an affordable colour e-ink screen that Amazon will use in their Kindles, 'cause I guarantee you every kid and his sister will be buying a Kindle on that day.