E Ink

Automotive technology solutions developer Antolin announced a strategic partnership with E Ink, to integrate E Ink’s Prism ePaper technology into vehicle interiors. The company aims to "significantly enhance user experience" and optimize energy efficiency. 

E Ink Prism panels use colored particles which are electronically controlled and enables the creation of dynamic surfaces with endless experiential designs that can change color and patterns on demand or automatically based on functionality, such as alerts or call notifications. 

Digital signage innovator Praevar launched a new family of signage solutions based on E Ink displays. These ePosters are all based on 32-inch 2560x1440 E Ink Spectra 6 displays, engineered for indoor advertising and retail environments.

Praevar says that these ePoster are designed as a smart replacement for traditional paper posters, combining vibrant, full-colour displays with impressively low power consumption, helping businesses reduce their carbon footprint while delivering an eco-friendly and energy-efficient alternative to static signage.

E Ink announced a partnership with Delvaux to show new handbag designs covered with E Ink Prism 3 panels. 

The new Helios capsule designs merge traditional textiles with E Ink's innovative technologies. Delvaux says it imagined redefining what luxury can be. Over the past two years E Ink and Delvaux have worked closely together to push the boundaries of technology – ultimately creating a product that weaves material innovation and leather mastery together to create a completely unique and personalized experience.

Papercast announced that Rīgas Satiksme (Riga municipality's public transportation authority) has decided to go ahead with the second phase rollout of Papercast' E Ink display solutions. 

Driven by the success of its initial deployment and buoyed by positive feedback from passengers, Rīgas Satiksme will deploy a further 60 units of Papercast' 23" E Ink displays (this is an extension of the first phase of the project, that also had 60 units). 

During a trade show in the US (Infocomm 2024), Samsung showed its first color ePaper display, aimed towards advertisement applications - in restaurants, malls, offices, retail stores, etc.

The EMDX color ePaper TV is based on a 32" 2560 x 1440 color E Ink panel. The display also offers 8GB of internal storage, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and USB-C ports. 

Asus demonstrated a new laptop that includes an integrated E Ink display at the rear of its lid. The display is a color E Ink panel. The basic application that Asus envisions is a digital "laptop sticker" showcase.

Placing an E Ink panel at the back of a laptop is not a new idea. Intel showed a prototype device back in 2014, and over the years we have seen several commercial laptops with a 2nd E Ink display.

E Ink Holdings took part in Displayweek 2024, showing its latest ePaper displays and panels, and solutions:

As always, E Ink took a visible role at the event, sponsoring the I-Zone and with a large number of employees at the exhibition floor. 

Earlier this month E Ink Holdings said that the first quarter of 2024 will be its lowest point in the year, and indeed now the company formally reported its earnings, saying that there was a 25% decline in profits (to about $40.9 million) in Q1, as its customers struggled with an excessive inventory which resulted in decline in orders.

E Ink says that this decline is due to the transition to color ESL solutions, and it expects its IoT business to return to normal growth by Q3 2024. Its e-Reader business segment is seeing robust growth, better than expected, signalling a smooth switch to color ePaper solutions.  The company retains its positive outlook for this year, expecting revenue to grow every quarter going forward.

E Ink Holdings says business is recovering gradually from an inventory correction cycle. Demand for E Ink displays has risen, mainly due to the adoption of new color EPD displays for e-readers and electronic shelf labels (ESLs). The company believes that the first quarter of 2024 will be its lowest point in the year, and revenues will start rising in Q2 and onwards.

E Ink further says that many ESL customers are expected to increase orders in the third quarter of 2024, and a large retailer in North America has started replacing paper labels with ESLs. This could be Walmart as we published last year. 

Himax Technologies and E Ink Holdings announced a new collaboration to a revolutionary ultralow power battery-operated smart retail solution. The solution incorporates Himax's leading-edge WiseEye ultralow power AI sensing technology with E Ink’s signage EPD, featuring industry-leading E Ink’s Kaleido displays.

Leveraging WiseEye, the smart retail solution deploys context-aware AI in human presence and shopper insight detection while also significantly enhancing the already impressive battery life of an ePaper display and enabling real-time personalized marketing. Himax WiseEye ultralow power AI sensing technology incorporates Himax proprietary ultralow power AI processor, always-on CMOS image sensor, and CNN-based AI algorithm, offering state-of-the-art ultralow power, always-on sensing, on-device context-aware AI and has been widely deployed in consumer electronics and AIoT related applications.