Samsung surprised all by launching its first E Ink device, a 32-inch TV featuring the E Ink Spectra 6 display. The South Korean conglomerate counts its display business among its biggest money spinners though that has largely been confined to the conventional LCD and OLED panels. With its latest move, it has now ventured into the e-paper display segment where it is competing primarily in indoor signage and posters. The segment already sees the participants of several brands such as Philips or Sharp that have a pan-world reputation. Now, with Samsung being in the fray, things surely aren’t going to be the same anymore as several others are expected to follow suit.
The above move on the part of Samsung also makes us wonder if the company would keep itself confined to only e-paper-based signage solutions or, as YankoDesign speculated, will venture into other segments as well. Take for instance e-readers or e-note devices. While Amazon with its Kindle devices rules the roost in this segment, it does not seem to have the same authority when it comes to e-note devices.
Other such as Onyx Boox along with a clutch of other Chinese companies like Hanvon, Hisence, Bigme, and such have taken the lead here. One of the biggest advantages of such e-note devices is that they run Android and support Google Play, which means there is not going to be any dearth of apps to make the most of your e-note device. This is in contrast to the Kindle Scribe or the Kobo Ellipsa as they offer what can be considered a closed ecosystem.
Samsung, which happens to be one of the biggest players when it comes to Android smartphone and tablet devices shouldn’t have much of an issue coming up with E Ink devices running the popular Google operating system. While E Ink smartphones might still be a niche segment, e-reader and e-notes are a fairly matured market and drive significant volumes to make the segment profitable enough. Samsung though will have to ensure enough content is available to make owing such an e-reader worthwhile to the users.
It is going to be interesting to see how things shape up in the months ahead. Stay tuned!
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.
