14 DAY TRIAL // The market for e-readers and any other devices that utilize e-paper displays definitely gave E Ink, the world's prime supplier of such things, something that qualifies as a more than substantial financial boost.
Even though tablets are, at the moment, the talk of the IT industry, they aren't the only device type that have been doing well on the market of portable electronics.
It turns out that, as expected, the e-reader industry has benefited from a continued increase in demand and, by extension, shipments of such gadgets.
"When it comes to reading digital content, most people will look for a device that is more convenient than physical books but which provides the same paper-like reading experience,” said Dr. Scott Liu, CEO of E Ink Holdings.
This means that E Ink Holdings, as the one making all, or at least most, of their displays, experienced quite a bit of financial influx.
In fact, things went so well that the outfit managed to grow in revenues even during the second quarter, which is usually the slow season in a year.
June parent sales were of NT$1.84 billion (73% up on year), while consolidated sales reached NT$ 2.38 billion (40% up year-over-year).
This led total revenues for the first half of the year to NT$17.01 billion, a jump of 67% compared to last year.
“With E Ink’s display technology, an EPD eReader provides consumers with those benefits as well as sunlight readability, low power consumption, and easiness to carry, which differentiates eReaders from the tablet computer in terms of market positioning and functionality. Most people use tablet computers for multimedia content and games rather than reading,” said Dr. Liu.
“Since tablet computers hit the market in 2010, the eReader market has grown 200% compared to the previous year. We estimate that our EPD shipments will continue to grow sequentially this year."