Summary
Much has happened in the e-paper space since NanoMarkets last report on this topic in 2008. Most notably the arrival of Amazon's Kindle book reader has turned e-paper into a near-mass-market technology for the first time. This success raises a lot of issues. E-paper has now become indentified with E Ink's electrophoretic technology. What does this mean for other players in this space? what is the future of the many competing technologies such cholesteric LCDs or electrochromics? And how far will the growing familiarity with e-paper help the other applications to which e-paper is being directed; applications such signage, smart cards and computer peripherals?
This report analyzes the new market environment for e-paper and answers these questions. It also looks at the many challenges that e-paper still faces. Although e-paper has become strongly identified with the concept of flexible displays, the first displays are at best foldable; certainly a long way from the rollable displays that futurists have discussed. Then there is the question of color and how far the e-paper market can evolve in a world in which people expect color from displays.
This report assesses the latest e-paper technology and provides a quantitative and qualitative forecast for shipments of e-paper products of all kinds ranging from book readers and flexible mobile displays to signage, smart shelving and smart cards. In this report, we also examine the key technology improvements that will be required over the next eight years and assess the marketing importance of such factors as flexibility, system architecture, resolutions, backplane switching speeds, and color capability. We also take a look at the marketing aspects of e-paper displays and how the supply chains are being built?
NanoMarkets has been covering the e-paper market for more than four years and this report is a follow-on from our successful 2008 e-paper report. It provides our views on the latest product announcements. We also examine in-depth the latest thinking on manufacturing processes and materials used to get e-paper to the market. Finally, the report provides strategic profiles of the leading providers of e-paper and a detailed eight-year market forecast of e-paper markets, broken out by application, materials and technology.
Companies included:
Acreo, Nemoptic, ZBD Displays, Kent Displays, Fujitsu Frontech, Matsushita, Varitronix, Ntera, E Ink, SiPix, Bridgestone, Qualcomm, Liquavista, Polymer Vision, PVI, Magink, NEC, LG Electronics, Seiko Epson, Advanced Display Technology, Seiko Instruments, Nanox, Sharp, Sony, iRex, Amazon, Casio, Hitachi, Apple, Hisense, Philips, Pricer AB, Midori Mark, Teraoka, Samsung, Lexar Media, Dai Nippon Printing, Denpeki Kaihatsu, Soligie, Fuji Xerox, Funai Electric, Nippon Sheet Glass, Toshiba, and Siemens.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
E.1 Summary of Market Opportunities
E.1.1 Opportunities and Evolution in the E-Book Reader Market
E.1.2 E-Signage Opportunities for E-Paper
E.2 Firms and Technologies to Watch
E.2.1 Frontplanes Meet Backplanes
E.2.2 Moving Beyond EPDs?
E.2.3 The Color Story
E.2.4 Flexibility
E.3 Summary of Forecasts: The Potential in Cell Phones and Smartcards
Chapter One: Introduction
1.1 Background to this report
1.1.1 Changes that Impact E-Paper
1.2 Applications for E-Paper
1.3 Technology Directions for E-Paper
1.4 Objectives and Scope of this Report
1.5 Methodology of this Report
1.6 Plan of this Report
Chapter Two: Technical Trends
2.1 Introduction: What Has Changed in One Year?
2.2 A Class Called E-Paper
2.2.1 E-Paper Strengths
2.2.2 E-Paper Weaknesses
2.3 Performance Metrics
2.3.1 Reflectivity
2.3.2 Resolution, Contrast and Viewing Angle
2.3.3 Power Issues
2.3.4 Color and Multicolor
2.3.5 The Speed Story
2.3.6 Scaleability
2.4 The Evolutionary Trail
2.5 Bistable TN LCDs (Twisted-Nematic Liquid-Crystal Displays)
2.5.1 Nemoptic BiNem LCDs
2.5.2 ZBD Displays Ltd.
2.6 ChLCDs (Cholesteric Liquid-Crystal Displays)
2.6.1 Multicolor ChLCDs
2.6.2 Flexible ChLCDs
2.7 ECDs (Electrochromic/Electrochemical Displays)
2.7.1 Acreo AB
2.7.2 Aveso
2.7.3 Ntera
2.8 EPDs (Electrophoretic Displays)
2.8.1 E-Ink
2.8.2 SiPix Imaging
2.8.3 Bridgestone Corp.
2.9 EWDs (Electrowetting Displays)
2.10 MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) Displays
2.11 Key Points in this Chapter
Chapter Three: E-Paper Market Analysis
3.1 Introduction: What's Changed in One Year?
3.2 The Application Space
3.3 Weathering the Economic Storm
3.4 E-Readers
3.4.1 E-Reader Evolution
3.4.2 Moving to Larger Screens
3.4.3 Color and Multicolor
3.4.4 Other Issues
3.5 Other Portable Applications
3.5.1 Mobile Phones
3.5.2 Watches
3.5.3 Sports Gear
3.5.4 Medical and Other Devices
3.6 Electronic Signage
3.6.1 Smart Tags and Labels
3.6.2 Advertising and Promotional Signs
3.6.3 Information Signs
3.6.4 Billboards
3.7 Computers and Peripherals
3.8 Low-End and Disposable Products
3.8.1 Smartcards
3.8.2 Smart Packaging
3.8.3 Other E-Paper Products
3.9 Summary of Key Points in This Chapter
Chapter Four: Company Profiles
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Acreo AB (Kista, Sweden)
4.2.1 Partnering with Soligie
4.3 Advanced Display Technologies (Bad Soden, Germany)
4.4 Aveso Inc. (Fridley, MN)
4.4.1 First Products
4.5 Bridgestone Corp. (Tokyo, Japan)
4.6 Dai Nippon Printing Company, Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan)
4.7 E Ink Corporation (Cambridge, MA)
4.7.1 An Expanding Application Field
4.8 Fuji Xerox (Tokyo, Japan)
4.9 Fujitsu Frontech (Tokyo, Japan)
4.9.1 Launching an E-Platform
4.9.2 E-Paper Signage
4.9.3 Fujitsu Services (London, U.K.)
4.10 Funai Electric Co., Ltd (Osaka, Japan)
4.11 Kent Displays Inc. (Kent, OH)
4.11.1 Going Flexible
4.11.2 Plastic Opens Up New Applications
4.12 Liquavista (Eindhoven, Netherlands)
4.12.1 The EWD Value Proposition
4.12.2 Product Platforms
4.13 Magink Display Technologies (Mevaseret Zion, Israel)
4.14 Nemoptic (Magny Les Hameaux, France)
4.14.1 BiNem Products and Partnerships
4.15 Ntera (Radnor, PA)
4.16 Opalux (Toronto, ON)
4.17 Plastic Logic (Mountain View, CA)
4.18 Polymer Vision (Eindhoven, Netherlands)
4.19 Pricer AB (Sollenta, Sweden)
4.20 Prime View International (Hsinchu, Taiwan)
4.20.1 Products and Directions
4.21 Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, Inc. (San Jose, CA)
4.21.1 Expanding Application Space
4.22 Siemens AG (Munich, Germany)
4.23 SiPix Imaging Inc. (Fremont, CA)
4.23.1 Partnering with AU Optronics
4.24 Toppan Printing Company, Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan)
4.25 Varitronix International Ltd. (Hong Kong)
4.25.1 ChLCDs in Expansion Mode
4.26 ZBD Displays Ltd. (Windsor, U.K.)
Chapter Five: Eight-Year Forecasts of E-Paper Market
5.1 Forecasting Methodology
5.1.1 How Much Confidence Should You Have in These Forecasts?
5.1.2 Changes from Previous NanoMarkets Forecasts of E-Paper
5.2 Signage
5.2.1 Outdoor Displays
5.2.2 Indoor Information and Advertising Displays
5.2.3 Smart Shelves/Electronic Shelf Labels
5.3 Computing and Communications
5.3.1 E-Book Readers
5.3.2 Cell Phone Main and Sub-Displays
5.3.3 Other Handheld Devices
5.3.4 Laptop and Desktop Computers
5.4 Disposable Electronics
5.4.1 Smartcards
5.4.2 Smart Packaging
5.5 Other Applications
5.6 Summary of Projections
5.7 Forecast of E-Paper Markets by Technology
5.8 Forecast of Intrinsically Flexible E-Paper Markets
Acronyms and Abbreviations Used In this Report
About the Authors
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