The Astak/PVI connection was only briefly touched on, more than anything the comment is on DaleDe's diligence getting the detail in the Wiki, than anything else.
There is a
recent item (like, today, actually) on PVI doubling their production capacity, that could have some bearing on the price drop, or anticipated price drop in the panels that Astak seems to be anticipating.
One thing's for sure, if Astak
does manage to bring out devices as cheaply as they're claiming to expect, then Sony, Bookeen, iRex, et. al. will be feeling some pressure to drop their prices too. Hopefully that'll be because the costs drop.
We've been speculating around here for two years (that I've been a party to) about what happens when the economies of scale start to kick in on e-ink, maybe we're reaching some sort of transition point where that's starting to have some effect.