e-Book Readers and Electronic Paper

Digital Content and Display Technologies Kindle New Markets

After a long development and commercialization period, low-power "electronic ink" displays are going mass market, thanks mainly to Amazon’s Kindle reader. Almost all current reader displays, including the one used in the Kindle, license proprietary technology from Massachussetts-based eInk, Inc.
The Kindle has caught on with early adopters the way Apple’s iPod did, but just as the iPod was not the first portable digital music player, neither is the Kindle the first device to use eInk. What remains to be seen is whether other contenders—some with possibly better technology—will displace the Kindle and/or expand the market.
This report covers the market for eInk and competing display technologies used in electronic book readers, and to be used in digital signage, retail shelf tags, and other devices.

What Questions Does This Report Answer?

  • How large will the total market for electronic paper be?
  • How fast will it grow?
  • How will new technologies affect market growth? Given parallels to the iPod and digital music player market, how will marketing, design, and strategic content alliances come into play?
  • How much of the printed book market will go electronic?

Who Needs This Report?

  • Electronic display manufacturers
  • E-book reader makers
  • Book, magazine and newspaper publishers
  • Periodical and billboard advertisers
  • Retailers
  • Boards of education
  • Universities

Table of Contents


Section 1.
Executive Summary
1.1. What is electronic paper?
1.2. A nascent market
1.3. The Outlook for e-Paper Displays

Section 2.
Technology Overview
2.1. What is Electronic Paper?
2.2. e-Paper Technologies
2.2.1. Electrophoretic displays
2.2.2. Emerging Technologies
2.3. Supplementary Technologies
2.3.1. Backplanes for E-paper
2.4. Competing Technologies
2.4.1. OLED

Section 3.
Business and Regulatory Issues
3.1. First Successes Bring Questions
3.2. How we got here
3.3. The Market Now
3.4. The Market in the Near-Future
3.5. E-Paper in the Long-Term

Section 4.
Market Outlook
4.1. Macroeconomic Drivers
4.2. Mass Market Prospects
4.3. How Many People Read Books?
4.4. The Outlook for Dedicated e-Reader Appliances
4.5. e-Reader and Digital Book Revenues
4.6. e-Paper in e-Readers and Other Applications
4.7. e-Paper Ad Placements

Section 5.
Company Profiles
5.1. Amazon
5.2. Bookeen
5.3. eInk, Inc.
5.4. Endless Ideas
5.5. Freescale Semiconductor
5.6. Fujitsu Ltd.
5.7. Plastic Logic Ltd.
5.8. Prime View International
5.9. Samsung
5.10. SiPix Imaging, Inc.
5.11. Sony Corporation
5.12. Tianjin Jinke Electronics

Section 6.
Industry Directory