E-Book demand triples year on year:
Ok, so this articles source has a hint of the self fulfilling prophecy behind it as the data is released via a Mr Sriram Peruvemba, the CMO of E-Ink Holdings, who just so happen to be the guys behind that lovely glare free display that adorns the massively popular Kindle by Amazon and the Barnes and Noble “Nook” among others.
Mr Sriram Peruvemba does however say that the demand for its displays could hit 25 million to 30 million units this year at a conference on Emerging Display Technologies, this is around 3 times the amount sold in 2010, question is will this grow exponentially or will the demand plateau?
E-ink holdings income for 2010:
There is no denying that a mobile digital library has something appealing to many people, I was admittedly one of those that thought it was solving a problem that did not exist but like some innovations the market worked out why they wanted and liked these devices after they were sold and word simply spread one by one, I see very little advertising for these devices, though admittedly I am perhaps the wrong demographic.
So moving back to figures. Last year, E Ink Holdings generated $650 million, and have said that they could go past $1 billion this year.
Will e-ink holdings be concerned about smartphones and tablets?
While most e-readers bought at present are currently “kindle’s” with barnes and nobles “nook” gaining strength, it will be interesting to see what the highly anticipated Amazon Hollywood Tablet we wrote about a month ago, due for release some time soon will do for the kindle market.
You see I can not work out why someone would want an e-reader that is useless for video or high gloss presentations but admittedly great for reading from, when you can have a tablet and have huge functionality and a pretty good attempt at a virtual kindle via an application.
There is undoubtedly a market for e-readers, I just wonder whether this may wane quite sharply in the next 24 months as the desire for tablets increases and prices come down.
Want to find out the difference between a tablet and an e-reader why not check out or lowdown on tablets v’s e-readers.
Qualcomm Mirasol – A Hybrid?
It is touted that many e-reader manufacturers are looking at full colour screens that are able to do video while keeping power consumption down to a minimum such as will be seen in Qualcomms Mirasol, could this hybrid become the way forward for the e-reader market thought at what point to do they become one and the same!
Anthony Munns