Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies and Plastic Logic Inc. have announced that they have entered into an agreement to create Plastic Logic's second volume production facility for its next generation plastic electronic displays and establish a plastic electronics industry in Russia.
Under the terms of agreement RUSNANO intends to make a significant investment in the company, which is the global leader in the emerging field of plastic electronics, as part of a large-scale investment project. According to the Financial Times, "Rusnano is putting more than $100m into the company for a "hefty" minority stake, according to a source close to the deal." The total investment in Plastic Logic since its conception is more than $250 million. It has yet to launch a commercial product.
It's Que reader that was announced in January this year had a screen size measuring 8.5 inches by 11 inches and was touted at $800 for an 8Gb version. In summer Plastic Logic withdrew this, before it had sold any, refunding advance orders, saying it was moving straight to generation 2 versions, which have not been defined. Certainly the huge success of Apple's iPad has not helped - it has forced down the price of the Amazon Kindle E-reader, for example, and despite claims that these are not competing products, in reality some consumers are comparing them.
Plastic Logic said it will continue to house its core R&D facility in Cambridge, England, as well as maintain its commercial factory in Dresden, Germany and corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California.
"The production facility for the next generation of plastic displays will become the first step to establish the new branch of an electronics industry in Russia. By the time of the launch, the Russian facility will be the world's most advanced fabrication plant in the plastic electronics industry," said RUSNANO Managing Director Georgy Kolpachev.
Founded in 2000 by researchers from the Cambridge University Cavendish Laboratory in the UK, Plastic Logic opened its first high-volume, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Dresden, Germany in 2008, where it will continue with production of the company's first commercial product.
"RUSNANO's investment will enable us to dramatically expand operations in support of volume production of our next-generation products, and to continue to advance our technology platform to deliver on our broader long-term vision," said Plastic Logic CEO Richard Archuleta.
"As a global company, we evaluated multiple countries for our expansion efforts and ultimately Russia offered the best strategic partnership opportunity," added Plastic Logic's CFO Rik Thorbecke. "Russia provides access to an enormous talent pool of scientists and engineers, and proximity to our European centers in Cambridge and Dresden. We have been very impressed with the caliber of the RUSNANO organization and, most importantly, its commitment to undertake the significant investment required to build a world-class volume production center capable of producing hundreds of thousands of units a month."
For more attend: Printed Electronics USA 2010.
Source: Plastic Logic
