E Ink had earlier projected a brighter long-term prospect of amassing higher profits thanks to a general shift towards color e-paper displays though its immediate impact has led to it taking a 25 percent hit on its profits, Taipei Times reported. The company said profits for Q1 2024 declined to $40.9 million which it attributed to fewer orders placed for e-paper displays as its customers already have to deal with a stockpile of inventory. The company reported profits of $54.63 million USD for the same period a year ago.
Operating profit took a 54 percent hit annually to NT$833 million from NT$1.81 billion. However, as E Ink stated, non-operating income achieved an impressive 95 percent growth to NT$879 million. Plus, there also is the foreign exchange gains amounting to NT$497 million which too added to the company’s bottom line.
“Looking forward, the IoT business will return to the normal growth path in the third quarter and that growth will extend into the fourth quarter,” E Ink chairman Johnson Lee told investors during the company’s quarterly conference.
“The most important thing is that we have at least ridden through the trough period,” Lee said. “The second quarter is better than the first quarter, and we believe the third quarter will be better than the second.”
Walmart is all set to implement its ESL project by the end of the year which is ahead of scheduled plans. That’s a mega project wherein the retail major plans to replace all paper shelf labels with electronic shelf labels or ESLs. Similarly, demand for e-paper displays meant for e-readers continues to be robust. E Ink also stated it has expanded its capacity to produce large-sized e-paper displays meant to be used as outdoor signs or for advertising purposes in the retail sector or by government agencies around the world.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
