Digitimes is reporting (http://www.digitimes.com/displays/a20080414PD213.html) that Prime View International (PVI), the producer of E Ink panels, is "to double its capacity for electrophoretic display (EPD), as revenues and orders from the segment continue growing."

Liu [chairman of PVI] told investors that the first quarter of 2008 was the best-ever first quarter for the company since its establishment. First-quarter revenues totaled NT$2.6 billion (US$85.8 million), with an operating profit of NT$404 million, according to the company.

Whoa there. This is potentially great news for every prospective Kindle buyer. Despite its $399 price tag, the initial stock of Kindles sold out in the opening hours (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22119) of appearing on Amazon's web site. Of course, I don't know how many units Amazon allocated for the initial sales period, but I suspect it was a pretty small number. Given the PVI commentary, any bets on how long before we can buy the Kindle again?

Related: No shortage of E-Ink screens? (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21958), PVI cannot meet Amazon Kindle demand (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19789)

Thanks to Ebook lover (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/member.php?u=6001) for the news!

Fantastic news!

From what I've gathered on the Amazon Kindle forum page, the delay has already slimmed down by a few weeks. I wouldn't be surprised if they're able to catch up completely within three or four months. Then again I am an optimist.

When I got my Kindle (in March) the lead time had crept up to 6 weeks. But it looks like it's currently fallen to around 2-3 weeks. We'll see if that's because order demand had fallen (presumably customers might have been discouraged by the long wait) and a longer time span of orders could be filled out of a shipment, or because shipments are larger and more frequent.

I hope they don't forget to improve and innovate. There's still no news about the next version screen...

I hope they build up an inventory of the color screen Kindles before offering them up for sale.

I hope they don't forget to improve and innovate. There's still no news about the next version screen...

Indirectly there is. PVI is working with Netronix to bring out new e-readers with bigger screens. Check here: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21808

PVI is working with Netronix to bring out new e-readers with bigger screens. These are still Vizplex displays, which were announced in 5", 6", 8" and 9.7" sizes - see EInk's High Resolution Active Matrix Displays (http://www.eink.com/products/matrix/High_Res.html). The 9.7" displays are not yet being made in quantity (they are not even available for $4000 test kits yet). The 8" displays are apparently available for test kits, but are not featured on any announced reader.