E-readers - Page 6

E Ink released three nice videos of its FPD-2011 booth: showing the new E Ink displays, panels and applications:

E Ink Holdings reported revenue of NT$2.25 billion ($74.5 million USD) for 3Q 2011 - up 20% from 2Q. The net profit for the first nine months of 2011 was NT$5.25 billion ($173.8 million USD). The company expects the business to continue to improve in the last quarter based on strong e-reader demand.

The company's chairman says that e-readers are recession-proof - because in bad times people spend more time reading. He says that he's still optimistic that e-reader shipments will reach 25-30 million units in 2011.

Amazon announced three new kindles today, two of which use E Ink displays. The new Kindle Touch e-readers feature 6" Pearl E Ink displays and an infra-red touch sensor. The $79 non-touch Kindle 2011 is a streamlined version of the older Kindle 3 - with only 5 physical buttons (beside the next/prev ones, anyway). The Kindle Fire is a $199 7" IPS-LCD tablet/e-reader.

The Kindle Touch will launch on November 21st, but you can order it today. The Wi-Fi version costs $99 with screensaver ads and $139 without ads. The 3G version costs $149 (ads) or $189 (ads-free). The Kindle 2011 is shipping now: $79 for the ad-supported version and $109 for the non-ads variant. The Fire will launch on November 15th for only $199 - you can pre-order it now.

There are reports that Ectaco plans to release a new e-reader that uses E Ink's Triton color display. The Jetbook Color will feature a 9.7" (600x800) touchscreen display, Wi-Fi and an SD card slot. The Jetbook color is expected to sell for $350 and will be launched in December 2011 - which will probably make it the first color E Ink reader in the US.

E Ink launched their Facebook page today, and are giving away 5 new e-readers to their fans in the next few weeks. Be sure to like the page before the 18th of August if you want to have a chance in the first draw.

Fujitsu is showing a new color e-paper eReader prototype - with a 4096 colors, 8" display (157 PPI that offers 8:1 contrast ratio. This is a linux-based system with a new fast processor (refresh rate of 0.7 seconds) and ePub and PDF support. It weights only 220 grams.

This new prototype probably uses Fujitsu's "improved" e-paper technology announced back in May 2010.

E Ink Holdings reported a net profit of NT$1.67 billion ($57.7 million) on revenues of NT$10.09 billion ($347 million) for the Q1 2011. The earnings-per-share more than doubled over last year (but were lower than the earnings in the previous quarter).

E-Paper displays (EPD) products contributed 60-70% of the total revenues. The company says that the market for EPD is expected to continue growing - in fact the company predicts that in 2011 the market will increase 2-3 fold over 2011.

Back in November 2010 we reported that Plastic Logic received a 'major' investment from Russia's RUSNANO. Today we learned that this is major indeed - the total investment will be $700 million (!) - which will be used to build a mass-production factory for thin, light and flexible plastic-based e-paper displays. Those displays will be used in Plastic Logic’s first commercial consumer electronics product, a next-generation electronic reader for business that is currently under development. This isn't the Que e-reader which was canceled in 2010.

The new factory will be built in Zelenograd, Russia, and is scheduled to begin production in 2013/2014 - and will be able to produce hundreds of thousands displays monthly. This will be Plastic Logic's second factory (the first one was opened in 2008 in Dresden, Germany). Russia hopes that this move will establish a commercial plastic electronics industry.

Bridgestone were showing their QR-LPD (Quick Response Liquid Powder Display) displays at CES. There are reports that the display is very dim and washed out, and the refresh rate is slow. They do support color, though. Here's a short video:

Vivitek is also showing two e-readers using the QR-LPD displays (made by Delta Electronics) one is a 8.2" and the other is a large 13.1" display.