E Ink Holdings reported its financial results for Q1 2016 - revenues were  NT$2.5 billion ($76.6 million USD) and the net loss was NT$272 million ($3.84 USD) - down from a net profit of NT$766 in Q4 2015 (but up from a loss of $1.23 billion in Q1 2015).

EIH says that its licensing revenues from Hydis FFS LCD technology is lower than it used to be because the display industry is shifting from LCD to OLED technologies.

According to a new report, e-reader ownership in the US is falling. 19% of adults in the US own a dedicated e-reader - down from 32% two years ago.

But people are still reading e-books - in fact a different report says that 27% of Americans have read an e-book in the past year up from 17% in 2011. This means that people are reading e-books, but not on dedicated e-readers but rather on other platforms (mostly tablets and smartphones, I guess).

The GoodEReader web site launched a $220,000 crowd funding campaign to develop the "ultimate e-reader". If successful, they will develop a 6" touch front-lit 1430x1080 E Ink Carta e-reader that features a 1Ghz CPU, 512MB RAM and 8GB of storage (plus a microSD slot). The e-reader will be based on an open Android 6 operation system. 

The Ultimate E-reader will cost $189.99. Together with the e-reader device, the project will also launch the first App Store designed specifically for E Ink devices. 

Kobo announced a new e-reader, the Aura H20 which is the world's first E Ink waterproof e-reader, as far as I know. This e-reader sports a 6.8" E Ink Carta display (265 PPI), and it will survive up to 30 minutes in water up to one meter deep.

The Aura H20 will cost $179 when it launches next month in the US, Canada and Europe.

E Ink announced a new thin and lightweight EPD technology branded E Ink Fina. The Fina uses a very thin glass substrate that enables it to be lighter and thinner than previous E Ink displays. They weigh less than 50% compared to glass-based LCDs and are less than 50% thick. A 13.3" Fina display weighs about 60 grams.

E Ink also announced the first e-reader to use the Fina, the PocketBook CAD reader. This 13.3" device sports a 1Ghz dual-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage, a large 8000 mAh battery, Wi-Fi, 3G and it runs Android 4.0.4. It includes a Wacom digitizer for both touch and stylus input.

E Ink reports that their (unaudited) January 2013 revenues totaled NT$2.57 billion (almost $87 million) - a 82% increase compared to January 2012. The company says that the e-reader market segment remains strong and LCD sales "met expectations". The company's chairman says that their diversification efforts are showing traction in the areas of Mobile Phones, Wrist Watches, Electronic Shelf Labels and others.

We're happy and proud to announce that after over a year in development, our second Kindle software title has been released. Utility Kit is a collection of must-have applications for your Kindle, which can enhance your reading experience and make your life easier. It includes seven different applications:

• Calculator
• Stopwatch
• Countdown timer
• World clocks
• Calendar
• Units conversion
• Notepad

Amazon announced a new Kindle e-reader today, the Kindle Paperwhite. This is pretty much the same e-reader as the Kindle Touch (which is no longer available), but it's got a new E Ink panel with built-in light, 25% improved contrast and a higher resolution (1024x768). This is quite an improvement over Pearl E Ink panels, we do not know yet what's the name of the E Ink panel itself yet.

The new Kindle will ship on October 1st 2012. The Wi-Fi model costs $139 (or $119 with ads) and the 3G model costs $199 (or $179 with ads). Amazon also reduced the price of the non-touch Kindle 2011 to $69 with ads (and $89 without).

E Ink said it expects its second half revenues to grow significantly from the first half - not just because of season factors - they expect new e-reader products in north america to re-ignite the e-reader market. E Ink also revealed that Rakuten (a Japanese e-commerce and internet company that owns Kobo) sold 100,000 e-readers in Japan since the launch last month.

E Ink plans to focus on non e-reader applications in the future to improve profitability. They expect demand for e-tags for convenience stores and supermarkets to "explode" next year.

E Ink has bought AUO's shares (82.7%) in Sipix Technology (STI) - the maker of micro?cup technology based electrophoretic e-paper displays. E Ink also intends to buy the remaining STI shares. The whole deal is worth about NT$1.5 billion (about $50 million USD) and will should close during Q4 2012.

Flexible solar Sipix prototype

Sipix's technology is pretty similar to E Ink's. It's not clear whether E Ink intends to continue producing Sipix displays or whether they bought them just for the IP and to remove a competitor. Sipix has been used in some e-readers (for example the Cybook Orizon), and apparently has some advantages over E Ink in the touch technology and refresh rate. E Ink is of course the clear e-paper e-reader leader with over 90% market share.