14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that a consortium of Russian investors have taken an interest in the troubles of a certain company that had, at one time, earned quite a bit of attention for its plastic semiconductors.
Plastic Logic is one of those companies that fell on hard times because of marketing and industrial conditions even though the product it was preparing to launch didn't lack promise.
Basically, the company had developed plastic semiconductors that could be used in the manufacture of flexible e-reader displays.
Plastic Logic was even quite eager to put that technology to use by bringing out its very own e-reader.
Said electronic went by the name of Plastic Logic Que proReader and was scheduled to come out in the first half of 2009.
E-readers may be common today, but back then, they weren't, especially not ones that measured 8.5 x 11.5 inches and which actually had a UI (user interface) with support for gesture-based input.
Unfortunately, those plans did not come to fruition because of multiple factors, such as Apple's disruptive iPad launch and some reliability issues related to the manufacture of the Que screens.
After that, Plastic Logic began to approach financial collapse and was forced to take out a $50 million loan.
Fortunately, plastic electronic displays managed to grab the attention of some Russian investors.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, they have invested $700 million into the company, meaning that paying off the aforementioned loan will be the beginning of a new era for the outfit.
“This investment signifies the potential that we see in the future of plastic electronics across a variety of commercial and consumer products,” said Georgy Kolpachev, managing director of the state-owned Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (Rusnano).
What Plastic Logic will do with the remaining $650 million is build a second plastic electronics factory in Russia, production expected to commence in 2013.