Partners to develop integrated processors for the eReader market

As the e-Reader market heats up, in a bid to lower costs and spark further development, E-ink, the supplier of electronic paper displays for companies like Amazon and Sony, has teamed up with Texas company, Freescale Semiconductor who provide processors for electronic reading devices.

 

The firms will jointly develop System-on-a-Chip (SoC) solutions that integrate Freescale's i.MX processor technology with E Ink's Vizplex® display controller. The partnership is designed to lower costs and expand the ecosystem of supporting electronics for the electronic reader market. The collaboration is also expected to spark innovation for emerging product categories such as eNewspapers, tablet PCs, laptop secondary displays, eNotebooks, and eDictionaries.

 

According to a 2009 DisplaySearch report, unit shipments of eReaders are expected to grow from 1 million units in 2008 to over 75 million units in 2018 with a value of approximately $3.8 billion. Market drivers include new electronic readers in the market, international expansion of availability of the devices, anticipated price declines, and the electronic distribution of newspapers and textbooks.

 

"We are very excited to see this cooperation. The market demand for electronic paper displays has outpaced even the most optimistic market projections with many new companies around the world entering the eBook reader market. This cooperation between E Ink and Freescale is an exciting next step to enabling this trend to continue," said Johnson Lee, VP of Prime View International.

 

E Ink signed an agreement to merge with Prime View International, which is expected to be completed by December 2009.