AUSTIN – The popularity of e-books, particularly Amazon’s Kindle, drove electronic paper display shipments to 5 million units in 2009, up 417% year-over-year, says DisplaySearch.

“Seeing this growth for a new application, especially in the second half of last year, is a vote of confidence from consumers who seem to have embraced e-books,” said Hiroshi Hayase, DisplaySearch director of small/medium displays. “Momentum from e-book popularity last year combined with new, larger-screen products hitting the market right now means that this trend will continue, so we will see large shipment volume increases in the first half of 2010.”

Amazon’s Kindle e-book, with a 6" display, captured 66% of the total EPD market in 2009, says the research firm. This market domination is expected to increase as the Kindle DX, with a 9.7" display, is positioned to compete with Apple’s iPad, released earlier this month, which uses a 9.7" TFT LCD.

“We expect to see other service providers increase their presence in the US and expand e-book adoption in Europe and Asia as well,” Hayase added.

• Prev
• Next