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#1 |
Fully Converged
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Karma: 14021202
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Switzerland
Device: Too many to count here.
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PVI: E Ink panel sales up, but cautious outlook
![]() Color me skeptic, but considering that PVI is still the major (only?) provider of E Ink displays, the declining numbers in panel sales do not seem to agree with the projected numbers of e-book devices sold, as provided by various upbeat analysts. Your opinion on this one? |
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#2 | ||
DSil
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Karma: 6895096
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Hants, UK
Device: Kindle, Cybook
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I agree it isn't good news, but it is not necessarily as bad as it looks.
First off, it appears (from yahoo) that the dollar has fallen by about 10% against their currency, which will account for a fair bit of the drop (I'd expect most things to be US dollar priced...). Next, I thought that they made other products besides E-Ink displays -- it could be that the drop is on other products. We just don't know enough to guarantee that the drop is all down to the E-Ink displays. The Year to Date seems roughly equal. I don't know the periodicity of their order cycle (from just one year's information). If they are still expecting a 20% drop, I'd guess that they still have some decent orders expected. Finally, they say: Quote:
Quote:
But then, as I've said before I'm an optimist so the truth might be different! |
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#3 |
Optimist
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Zagreb, Croatia
Device: Kindle Paperwhite
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IMHO, the present generation of the E-ink based readers is still inferior in some aspects. A present generation of a product (paper books) cannot be replaced by an expensive electronic gadget offering similar functionality. Btw, Jeff Bezos can claim whatever he wants about the Kindle sales but I read that cum grano salis, especially because the Kindle is ugly. If Jeff has a problem with taste, maybe he has also a problem with sincerity.
![]() Personally, I am waiting devices based on the new Epson controller S1D13521. The Broadsheet AM300 EPD Prototype Kit looks impressive (I have seen a video) and my hopes are high for an affordable device with usable pen based navigation and no physical keyboard. For moderately rare occasions when I will need the keyboard (dictionary lookup, text search), I want it to pop up in a window. When someone makes such device, we will see about the E-ink panel sales. |
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#4 |
When's Doughnut Day?
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Karma: 13675475
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Houston, TX, US
Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad
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Down from a year ago? The only widely sold user was the Sony, right? Add that to the Kindle and sales should have increased, shouldn't they? Or all the other devices that use these things significant - and decreasing? I don't get it.
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#5 |
Muncher of ebooks
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Fürth, Germany
Device: Pocketbook 360
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Please don't forget the time delay between ordering, receiving the shipment, building the devices and selling them. Since I somehow can't imagine that ebook producers use jit procedures, we could very well see now displays ordered in 07...
cheers, kaas |
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#6 | |
Enthusiast
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Join Date: Apr 2007
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Quote:
To explain the variability in the monthly sales numbers, maybe things were a little front-end loaded. They ended the 1st quarter of 08 with 44% year-over-year growth. Especially in Feb 08, they had 73% y/y growth. Maybe things wouldn't look so bad relative to each other if the sales numbers were a little more spread out. Obviously there is a slowdown due to the economy or some other reason but they still currently have 6.5%y/y growth through the 1st half of 2008 even with the bad numbers of the 2Q. I wonder how this would look if the currency conversion was normalized over the length of time. |
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#7 |
Koby-rific!
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: 2' From My MacBook Pro
Device: Kobo Sage,Kobo Aura One, Glo HD,PRS-T1,PRS-950, PRS 300, PRS 350
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Could it just be that supply has finally caught up with Demand?
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#8 |
Gadget Geek
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: Paperwhite, Kindle 3 (retired), Skindle 1.2 (retired)
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It seems likely to me at least at this price point. I've met quite a few people who would like one but aren't quite ready to pay what they cost right now. I have another board I hang out on (not book-related) where the Kindle has come up in discussion quite a few times. A few of us own them but many, many more have said they would like one but either can't or won't pay the current price.
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#9 |
Opinionated [but right]
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: UK
Device: Cybook Gen3, PRS 505, Kindle Int, Oasis, Paperwhite, Scribe
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I'll repeat what I said the last time this surfaced:
But seriously, I'm not sure that the figures quoted say much about the potential ebook market. The original story lays the blame for the fall in production mainly at the door of a fall in demand for hand-held devices (not ebook readers) in China. At this moment the Shanghai stock exchange stands at half its peak in 2007, so it wouldn't be surprising if discretionary purchases like e-ink devices were taking a hammering. Until we have a proper analysis of the proportion of their business devoted to e-ink and the proportion of e-ink panels destined for ereaders, gross sales figures don't tell us much - if anything at all - about ereader sales. It could well be that ereader sales are soaring but they are not sufficient to outweigh the collapse of other sales. Or not. |
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#10 |
Enthusiast
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Karma: 58
Join Date: Apr 2007
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Exactly, kinda. Replace "ereader" with E Ink and I think that explains it. I mean they did say PVI saw an increase in E Ink sales, but it wasn't enough to overcome the overall drop across all product lines.
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Tags |
e ink, pvi |
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Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Toshiba Matsushita Display readies E Ink competing LCD panel | Alexander Turcic | News | 28 | 02-17-2011 09:43 PM |
PVI changes name to e-Ink (and another moronic article) | m-reader | News | 3 | 06-21-2010 05:24 PM |
PVI to double E Ink panel capacity - will it help to meet Kindle demand? | Alexander Turcic | News | 6 | 04-16-2008 12:35 PM |
PVI buying BOE Hydis (LCD Panel Manufacturer) | tribble | News | 1 | 11-22-2007 05:59 PM |
PVI on its way to success thanks to E Ink | Alexander Turcic | News | 10 | 10-30-2007 10:38 AM |