Netronix' e-book reader, "EB 600," which is PVI's OEM product
Netronix' booth was always crowded reflecting people's interest in e-books.
At Computex Taipei 2009, which took place in Taipei from June 2 to 6, 2009, booths that exhibited electronic books (e-books) were just about as crowded as those exhibiting new PC and netbook products.
Netronix Inc and Unihan Technology Corp of Taiwan were attracting many visitors to their booths by presenting e-book readers like Amazon.com Inc's "Kindle." Those e-book terminals are original equipment manufacturing (OEM) products of Prime View International Co Ltd (PVI), a leading e-paper module manufacturer in Taiwan.
PVI announced June 1, 2009, that it would acquire E Ink Corp, a US company engaged in the development of e-paper film. In accordance with this acquisition, PVI is expected to grow stronger in this field by starting the in-house development of e-paper film, which it has procured from E Ink so far.
Nikkei Electronics interviewed Shichan Huang from PVI's Electronic Paper Display Center Sales & Marketing Dept about the company's current state and future at the event site of Computex.
Q: In the e-paper market, PVI is engaged in supplying the e-paper modules to set manufacturers as well as e-book terminal OEMs. Tell us the 2008 results and the 2009 outlooks for each of these two businesses.
Shichan: Module sales account for most of PVI's sales in the e-paper business. Compared with modules, the ratio of OEM sets is as small as 10%. Module sales were 600,000 units and NT$2 billion (approximately ¥5.9 billion or US$59.9 million) in 2008, and are expected to grow to 1.2 to 1.6 million units and NT$4 billion (¥11.9 billion) in 2009.
In 2008, Sony Corp's e-book reader, "PRS-505," sold well in the US and Europe from May. Then, Amazon.com's "Kindle" emerged on the heels of Sony's product. The Kindle became more popular than Sony's product because it enables to easily download additional content with its 3G wireless functionality. It can be said that these products drove the e-book reader market. And PVI supplies its modules to both Amazon.com and Sony.
Q: Does PVI, as a component manufacturer, feel that the e-book reader market is gathering momentum?
Shichan: PVI's mainstay business is the production of small TFT LCDs, but the business targeted at e-paper applications has been growing fast since 2005. We receive phone call and e-mail inquiries everyday from companies in various countries. I have been engaged in the marketing of e-paper LCDs since 2007, but virtually no day in the last two years went by without an inquiry.
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