Global sales of electronic paper displays are expected to grow 64 percent per unit in compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during the upcoming 10-year period, riding on fast uptake of end products such as online bookstore operator Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle electronic readers, research house DisplaySearch said in its latest report.
Electronic paper displays are mostly used in electronic books and electronic shelf labels. Applications will rapidly expand to electronic textbooks, newspapers, magazines, mobile phones, point-of-purchase and public signage displays.
In 2018, shipments of electronic paper displays could reach as much as 1.8 billion units, compared with 22 million units forecast for this year, the Austin, Texas-based market researcher said in a report on Thursday.
By revenue, the market is expected to grow by 41 percent in CAGR to US$9.6 billion in 2018, from this year’s US$431 million, DisplaySearch said.
“E-paper displays are taking off with consumers due to their low power consumption and ease of reading, especially in sunlight,” said Jennifer Colegrove, director of display technologies at DisplaySearch.
“In addition, e-paper displays are ‘green’ because they reduce paper consumption and electronic shelf labels can save time and labor costs by enabling dynamic pricing in stores,” she said.
Electronic reader displays account for the majority of electronic paper revenues. Nearly all electronic reader devices in the market today use E Ink’s electrophoretic display technology, DisplaySearch said in the report.
In June, Taiwan’s Prime View International Co Ltd (元太科技), which supplies electronic paper displays to Amazon and Sony Corp, said it intended to acquire E Ink for US$215 million, including all the firm’s key technologies and patents on electronic paper displays. Prime View is scheduled to wrap up the acquisition by the end of this year, it said.
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Taiwan’s No. 1 liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel maker, said it expected to make its first delivery of 6-inch and 9-inch electronic paper display in the fourth quarter of this year through its subsidiary SiPix Imaging Inc.
SiPix is shipping electronic paper displays used in electronic tags from the second quarter, AU Optronics said.
To cope with growing demand, SiPix said it would expand capacity by 50 percent to 30,000 units a month.
Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), the nation’s No. 2 flat-panel maker, however, said it had no plan to follow suit, adding it intended to focus on its core LCD panel business.
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