E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), the world’s largest e-paper display supplier, yesterday said revenue last month plunged 55 percent from November as customers turned cautious about the economic outlook and because of seasonal effects.
Consolidated revenue last month fell to NT$1.59 billion (US$52.6 million), which was also 57 percent lower than the same period a year earlier, the company said in a statement.
In the October-to-December quarter, the company's sales dropped 4 percent to NT$10.49 percent from the third quarter.
For the whole of last year, E Ink posted record consolidated sales of NT$38.43 billion, up 53 percent from 2010, it said.
E Ink chairman Scott Liu (劉思誠) said in the statement that the company posted record revenues last year thanks to its booming e-paper display and fringe-field-switching display businesses.
As for the disappointing figure last month, Liu said E Ink completed shipments of Christmas orders in November, resulting in lower sales last month.
Liu said the company remained confident about sales of e-reader devices this year, citing Juniper Research’s study.
Global shipments of e-readers are expected to increase to 100 million units by 2016, according to market researcher Jon Peddie Research.
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