E INK has confirmed with Good e-Reader that the expected clients to introduce colour reading devices and various e-notes in this year’s third or fourth quarter is no longer going to happen. Instead, they are being pushed back to sometime in 2024.
E-readers are the largest revenue earner for E INK. The big trend in industry is for the products to transition from black and white to colour. Johnson Lee, the Chairman of E INK Holdings, pointed out that the shift to colour products led to a 30–40% growth rate in 2023 for their clients. Onyx Boox, Pocketbook, iReader, and iFlytek are all excellent examples of companies that have released Kaleido 3 products. It remains to be seen if Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo or Remarkable will embrace colour E INK in 2024.
Who will release new products in 2024? Kobo has plans to release at least one new device in early 2024; it will either be a new version of the Libra or Sage. Amazon has plans for at least one new product; the rumour is a new Kindle Basic or the Kindle Oasis Signature Edition. Supernote plans to release three new products, refreshing their entire product line, including a new 13.3-inch e-note. Of course, the Pocketbook InkPad X2 will come out, their first e-note, and Meebook and Onyx will issue many new products.
E Ink’s consolidated revenue for the third quarter of this year was NT$6.821 billion (US$213.20 million), a 16% decrease on-year. Net profit attributable to the parent company was NT$2.4 billion. Cumulative revenue for the first three quarters of 2023 reached NT$21.287 billion, a slight 1% decrease on-year. Operating profit was NT$5.773 billion, and net profit was NT$6.576 billion, the second-highest record in the company’s history.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
