http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=219500272
E-paper display market to hit $600 million in 2010
LONDON — The total e-paper display market is set to be 22 million units and $431 million in revenues in 2009 and is set to grow with a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent for revenues and 64 percent for units over the next decade, according market research company DisplaySearch.
E-paper displays are being used in e-books, e-newspapers, mobile phones, electronic shelf labels, in clothes and other wearable items. The market is set to comprise 36 million units in 2010 and be worth $600 million.
E-book displays currently account for the majority of e-paper revenues. Nearly all e-book devices use E Inks electrophoretic display technology, with a small number, such as Fujitsu’s FLEPia, using cholesteric LCD technology. Other electrophoretic display suppliers SiPix and Bridgestone have announced that they will also commercialize e-book displays.
According to DisplaySearch MEMS display technology will expand from small size mobile phone displays to color and medium size e-book displays over the next few years. Meanwhile electrochromic displays are targeting low-cost, high-volume smart label and card display applications. DisplaySearch forecasts that electrochromic will become the leading technology in terms of unit volume for e-paper displays by 2013.
“E-paper displays are taking off with consumers due to their low power consumption and ease of reading, especially in sunlight,” said Jennifer Colegrove, director of display technologies at DisplaySearch, in statement. “In addition, e-paper displays are ‘green’ because they reduce paper consumption, and electronic shelf labels can save time and labor costs by enabling dynamic pricing in stores.”