Nikkei Electronics Asia -- September 2009
Features
[Web Exclusive] E-Paper Industry Now Centered on Taiwan

E-Mail Article
Tweet This
Digg This
Share this with friends on Facebook
Buzz Up!
Sept 11, 2009 00:00 Takuya Otani

The market for electronic paper (e-paper) is expected to grow dramatically in the near future, for electronic book (e-book) readers and other applications (Fig 1). 2009 has seen a number of far-reaching industry restructures in preparation for full-fledged growth, starting with the acquisition of second-ranked e-paper manufacturer SiPix Imaging Inc of the US by major liquid crystal display (LCD) panel manufacturer AU Optronics Corp (AUO) of Taiwan in Mar 2009. In Jun this was followed by the announced acquisition of E Ink Corp of the US, the largest e-paper manufacturer, by Prime View International Co Ltd (PVI) of Taiwan, another LCD panel manufacturer.

At a panel discussion held in Japan at the end of Jun 2009, panelists including engineers in the e-paper field commented on how e-paper had suddenly relocated to Taiwan, and wondered if there wasn't anything that could be done. As a result of the abrupt industry restructuring, the promising e-paper industry has concentrated in Taiwan, alarming many people in the field in Japan.

Much Interest in E Ink

Until very recently there was a chance that Japan could have dominated the e-paper industry, through the acquisition of E Ink by Sony Corp of Japan.

E Ink, originally a tech start-up, currently holds the majority of the e-paper market, with revenues for the first quarter of 2009 reaching US$18 million. Not surprisingly, many companies were interested in snapping it up. One source familiar with the industry reveals that companies like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and LG Display Co Ltd, both of Korea, were also interested in acquiring it. "Sony was also very interested in the firm, and was on the verge of acquiring it, in fact," added the same source. Sony released the first e-book reader in the world, in 2004, using E Ink's e-paper, and still uses the company's e-paper on the e-book reader it markets so successfully in the US.

When top Sony management interested in the acquisition left, however, coupled with the fact that PVI had made a desperate leap from its flat LCD panel business to bank on e-paper growth, the possibility of Sony's acquiring E Ink evaporated.

There is a wide variety of e-paper types, unlike the relatively uniform specs (materials, manufacturing techniques, etc) of LCD panels. If a new technology can be found that is superior to the E Ink approach, it is quite possible that the global industry map now centered on Taiwan could be redrawn once again.