14 DAY TRIAL // With the e-reader market on the rise, Amazon, B&N and others saw themselves in need of reducing their e-readers' prices, and this led to a heightened competition on the market, to the point where E Ink reportedly believes that, during the second half of 2010, the amount of shipments will actually double, if not triple, compared to the first two quarters.
Amazon recently reduced the price of the 9.7-inch Kindle DX, from US$489 to US$379, and its sales rate tripled and is expected to lead to more than the forecast of 10 million units.
Basically, E Ink Holding expects to score a significant number of panel sales during the third and fourth quarters, in so far as to boost its revenues by a large margin.
E Ink has already offered discounts when order volumes of EPDs (electrophoretic displays) reach certain amounts that it and its clients set at the start of the year.
According to the report made by Digitimes, its clients have already reached the agreed amounts of EPD orders and, thus, are now in a position where they can run pricing campaigns and offer discounted prices.
According to Scott Liu, chairman of E Ink, even reportedly stated that the company is willing to offer said discounts in order to stimulate the growth of the e-reader market even further.
One of the major factors behind e-reader sales strengthening is that the 6-inch Amazon kindle, without 3G, sells for as little as US$139, and this has led to higher demand and E Ink's decision to speed up panel production in order to fulfill client orders.
Furthermore, according to Liu, vendors will soon manage to drive e-reader costs to under $100, and this will even further raise the appeal of its products.
All in all, E Ink is eager to help its clients lower production costs, as this can only mean more E ink panel shipments in the long run.