Rumor on Amazon Eink Color Touch

[emellaich]

Eink to ship 3 million color touch screen modules to Amazon each month starting in March???

I was following up on another thread here that talked about eink's first quarter losses. When I went to the original source of the news. I noticed that there was a headline from a previous article that says:

E Ink lands 6-inch color e-book reader module orders from Amazon, says paper (Feb 20).

Unfortunately, the article to this headline is behind a paywall and I can't access the details. However, when I do a google search on the headline I get a link to this page at silicon investor. This is a message board, and on the message board someone quotes from the article and says:

EPD maker E Ink Holdings (EIH) reportedly has landed orders for 6-inch color e-book reader modules from Amazon with shipments to begin in March, according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report.

Shipments of the touched-enabled e-book reader modules are expected to top three million units a month, the paper said.

So its just rumor, but it's interesting. I wonder what the lead time is between getting the modules and assembling the completed reader? I wonder how many they need to stock up before they announce?

If we assume they need a month to produce the readers, and allow a month for stocking the supply chain, this could be available as soon as June. However, if their aim is to launch in the fall for Christmas, they may need several months of production to stockup. This would mean they could launch in October with an inventory of 12 million (4 months x 3mil/month) for the holidays.

[wallcraft]

The Wiki has a page on E Ink Triton, which was announced in November 2010. So far all the color E Ink devices have used 9.7" screens. Amazon might be first with an upgraded screen, but, assuming it is Triton, at 6" this will likely be 1024 x 768 for text but 512 x 384 for color. Reports on the 9.7" screen have generally been favorable, given its limitations in color range, but the background is brown, rather than grey, and the contrast is presumably lower than greyscale EInk.

[nesler]

I know Amazon reps have stated on more than one occasion that they weren't yet comfortable with the quality of color e-ink screens--this wasn’t too long after the Triton demos came out. So I suspect that the quality has progressed beyond that point (it's been nearly one and a half years), and Amazon is now willing to invest in the product.

[JeremyR]

I just don't see the point of 6" color readers - that size is really only good for reading novels.

Originally Posted by JeremyR

I just don't see the point of 6" color readers - that size is really only good for reading novels.

Graphic novels, particularly smaller format ones like manga. 6" is just about the right size for this. Larger, A4-sized graphic novels and comics can still be read, just in landscape mode or with panning. Zooming and panning can be a pain, but I find the 6" form factor preferable to lugging around a 9" or 10" LCD tablet with a third the battery life.

And also non-fiction works with photos or colour diagrams. History books or biographies would work, as well as technical reference books that use colours in their diagrams (I have the odd one or two loaded on my ereader).

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

I just don't see the point of 6" color readers - that size is really only good for reading novels.

You have never looked at a wildlife guide, or a military vehicle identification guide?

[fjtorres]

That rumor dates back to February and Digitimes (hit-or-miss at best).
It has been pretty much debunked:
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...dle-this-year/

[Dulin's Books]

exactly fj. Amazon didnt order color ink displays. The whole thing is, again, the problem of Primeview changing the name to Eink Holdings. Story writers and rumor spreaders forget that it doesn just mean eink displays. From other reading its quite likely that Amazon has purchased Hydis FFS displays for the Fire.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by Phogg

You have never looked at a wildlife guide, or a military vehicle identification guide?

I would make a plant identification guide myself if this thing materializes.

[SeaKing]

Hey. I am enthused over it.

[afv011]

I think the market for a color eInk would be small. Where it would be better than a B&W eReader (magazines and illustrated books), it wouldn't be better than an LCD tablet, unless you like pastel colors. Yes, better battery life and reading outdoors, but I still think the market would be small.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by afv011

I think the market for a color eInk would be small. Where it would be better than a B&W eReader (magazines and illustrated books), it wouldn't be better than an LCD tablet, unless you like pastel colors. Yes, better battery life and reading outdoors, but I still think the market would be small.

You might be right about the size of the market as a percentage, but the question is would there be enough demand to support it. A million people might be a small market, but it is significant. A half million is also significant.
I am thinking that I would love to have color on my Kindle for reading other than books as long as it didn't cost an arm and a leg. Color schematics would be great as would maps and color photographs.
I don't need video!
I am assuming the battery would last 12 hours or more hopefully up to 16 continuous.

The grey scale Kindle is fine for reading books, and I have 3G on it as well. Still I don't expect that to last forever so I think of the future. Color sounds good, and it should improve over time.

[RainingLemur]

I've been eagerly waiting for something like this to make it to the Amazon line of things. This will make reading comics and more enjoyable.

If they can make it attractive and as affordable as the existing Kindle lines, I can see this as selling big (assuming it were true, anyways).

[crossi]

Weren't the origional audobon books in pastels? The prints I've seen don't look like oil pictures in any case. The color ink demos I've seen would work just fine for those. A lot of good art is in pastels that would work fine as illustrations in ebooks.

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by emellaich

Eink to ship 3 million color touch screen modules to Amazon each month starting in March???..........................If we assume they need a month to produce the readers, and allow a month for stocking the supply chain, this could be available as soon as June. However, if their aim is to launch in the fall for Christmas, they may need several months of production to stockup. This would mean they could launch in October with an inventory of 12 million (4 months x 3mil/month) for the holidays.

So if we are assuming a target date of, say, November ? That means - if true - they'll have 27 million, and ongoing, of these 6" screens............

Mmmmm....

Let's hope the world economy picks up a bit.
Wouldn't do Eink much harm either - as might a judiciously placed rumour ?