As Expected, E Ink Holdings (EIH) returned to profitability in Q2 2019 thanks to strong demand for e-paper displays for electronic shelf labels, e-readers and e-notebooks. Revenues in June totaled $45.67 million - up 19% from May but down 16.7% from June 2018.
EIH expects that the strong sales will continue in Q3 (fueled by peak-season demand).
E Ink Holdings is positive about the company's sales and earnings in 2019, and expects to return to profitability in Q2 2019 following a $3.4 million operational loss in Q1 2019. In the second quarter EIH saw increased shipments of e-paper displays for electronic shelf label (ESL),e-readers and e-notebooks.
In 2019 EIH managed to sign up more than 20 new customers in the education sector and is expecting to increase its e-reader and e-notebook sales to expand in H2 2019 and 2020 as well.
E Ink Holdings says that it expects its electronics shelf label (ESL) display shipments in 2019 to grow 20-30% compared to 2018 - much lower than its previous estimates, due to the US-China trade war and a slowing macro economy.
E Ink Holdings is confident that its business will continue to be strong in 2019. Demand for e-readers will remain weak in H1 2019, which will result in a single-digit drop in total revenues.
E Ink Holdings announced that its net profit increased 25.48% to $84.6 million in 2018 as demand for high-margin electronic shelf labels (ESL) more than compenstated the lower demand for e-reader displays
E Ink Holdings is confident that its business will continue to be strong in 2019. Demand for e-readers will remain weak in H1 2019, which will result in a single-digit drop in total revenues.
In early March we conducted a 10 day trip to Seoul, to attend the OLED Korea 2019 conference (and a visit to some local display companies). One thing that we noticed during our trip is the adoption of E Ink shelf labels in stores.
We have seen E Ink ESL displays in Samsung retail stores (used to detail the new Galaxy S10 flexible OLED smartphone family), and in supermarkets across town. The ESL displays were used to display price and information (unfortunatly always in Korean) - and were nicely placed.
E Ink Holding's president Johnson Lee says that EIH expects to enjoy strong sales in Q4 2018 - and the growth momentum will continue in 2019. The increased sales will be driven by strong demand for electronic shelf label (ESL) products.
EIH's current production capacity is fully booked - and even though the company is increasing its capacity at its Linkou Taiwan plant, this will not be enough to meet the surging demand. EIH is now considering converting some of its production capacity at its US plant to produce ESL displays (the fab is currently exclusively making e-reader displays).
China-based display maker BOE demonstrated smart label displays using what seems to be E Ink displays:
This is the first time we hear of any E Ink project by BOE (one of the world's largest display producers). This demonstration was part of BOE's Global Innovation Partner Conference 2018 (BOE IPC-2018).
E Ink Holdings announced a new collaboration with Fujitsu Semiconductor to co-develop a reference design board for battery-less e-paper labels. The new board will be based on Fujitsu's UHF FRAM RFID LSI. Toppan Printing will also be a partner in this project.
The design board will use energy-harvesting technologies that will enable it to connect over distances of up to 20 cm without a power source. The companies target applications such as badges, ID cards, electronic shelf labels and logistics tags.
E Ink Holdings estimates that its 2018 revenues will be little changed from its 2017 revenues (of about $495 million) as growth in ESL and e-notebook revenues will offset the decline in e-reader demand.
E Ink says that its e-reader customers are "adjusting their product portfolios to changing demand" in 2018 - which reduces demand for new devices and thus demand for its e-reader E Ink displays. Next year, however, e-reader market growth is expected to resume.
E Ink Holdings' president, Johnson Lee, says that demand for electronic shelf labels (ESL) displays is high - and in 2018 the company expects ESL displays to surpass e-reader displays in terms of area shipments.
This is very good news for EIH as the e-reader market has stagnated for years - and it is rather surprising for many as we have all been used to consider e-readers to be the main market for e-paper displays.
