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In this week's issue:
Plastic Logic delays the launch of the QUE againThe company has not made any public commitment on availability of QUEAccording to reports Plastic Logic has sent out a letter to customers cancelling their pre-ordered QUE. The latest letter apparently informs customers that their original pre-order has been cancelled and in contrast to the previous delay the company has not given any commitment of availability in the future. Plastic Logic had already delayed the launch of the QUE from April 2010 to 24 June 2010. This raises all sorts of questions regarding the cause of the delay. No detailed explanation has been given as to why another delay. Plastic Logic states in the recent communications that the delay is to “perfect user experience”. According to a report on Wired “Plastic Logic wants to make sure that the product they deliver is the right one for their target business customers in the rapidly changing marketplace,” a spokesperson for Plastic Logic wrote in an e-mail to us. “They are continuing to refine the product, technology and features, and are anxious to get in the marketplace as soon as possible.” The recent announcements of lower prices of both the Amazon “Kindle” and Barnes and Noble “Nook” will undoubtedly have caused greater than originally planned commercial and market pressures. Such reasons can be temporarily corrected by lowering prices, and this may be why Plastic Logic has cancelled all pre-orders. They may simply want to relaunch the QUE at a lower price point. However, the cause for delay may be more rooted in technical difficulties. Recent reports suggested that process changes (see OSA-Direct) may have been a factor in product launch. It might even be that the company is running out of cash at the same time as it is launching a major new product. Such a situation would be disruptive to the company, diverting management attention at a critical time and limiting the amount of money available to solve any technical issue with the technology and product. The last time the company publicly announced it had raised money was in Aug 2008 when the company received $50 million of investment. Given no revenue streams, the high cost of building and running a manufacturing facility and high cost of rolling out a major new product would suggest that there is probably a real need to raise more money. Plastic Logic plays an important role in the emerging organic semiconductor industry, its success or failure is a barometer for the industry. The technology the company has developed and the commitment it has made as an industry pioneer deserves to be successful. Its technology has wider applicability than just organic transistors backplanes for eReaders, the company has pioneered novel processes, and device structures for fabricating organic transistors. While it is hard to imagine all the applications for organic transistors, one thing for sure, it is more than we can possibly imagine today. It is hoped that whatever the real cause of the delay, it is sorted out soon, allowing the company to continue its path forward and to a long-term and influential position within the organic semiconductor industry. Photonis Technologies acquires 51% stake in MicroOLEDAcquisition of major stake in MicroOLED aims to strengthen Photonis in the global night vision digital market MicroOLED designs and manufactures high-performance micro-displays for near-to-eye applications. The company’s core business consists of highly integrated micro-displays for use in defense systems for dismounted soldier head-up displays, in OEM instrumentation, in video glasses for mobile HD and 3D applications, and viewfinders for cameras. Founded in 2007, MicroOLED is a privately-owned company whose headquarters and R&D center are located in Grenoble, France, a renowned center of excellence for chipset and nanotechnology development. Team members include specialists who contribute solid expertise in OLED technology and engineering from their tenure at Technicolor (Thomson), along with experts from CEA-LETI with a strong background in CMOS, packaging, and optics. Goossen Boers, CEO of Photonis, said, “The acquisition of MicroOLED is a natural move in strengthening the Photonis Group’s offer for the global night vision digital market.” Goossen, added, “Our group is committed to provide to the market low power, compact, high resolution digital opto-electronic sensors. MicroOLED enables us to provide optimised solutions with state-of-the-art microdisplay technology.” Eric Marcellin-Dibon, CEO of MicroOLED, said, “Beyond being the display solution for defense portable systems, our unique energy-efficient technology is also at the forefront of many other near-to-eye display solutions thanks to its high resolution and image quality. We anticipate attractive opportunities in the medical sector as well as mobile products and digital cameras for consumers.” Eric, added, “Joining the Photonis Group enables us to strengthen our manufacturing capability and to advance our technological developments to offer innovative products. In addition we will benefit of the existing Photonis’ sales & marketing channels, to enlarge our market access to a wide range of customers and to develop new opportunities for professional applications.”
www.photonis.com www.microoled.net Tokki Corp. to become wholly owned subsidiary of Canon IncTokki's core organic EL and solar cell manufacturing equipment business is considered essential to the future growth of Canon's industry equipment businessCanon Inc. ("Canon") and Tokki Corp. ("Tokki") has announced that their respective Boards of Directors at their meetings held on June 28, 2010 have adopted resolutions for a share exchange under which Canon would make Tokki its wholly owned subsidiary. The share exchange will become effective on October 1, 2010 after approval is granted at the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of Tokki to be held on August 20, 2010. According to information released by Canon the company
Samsung Mobile Displays announces new OLED production lineGen 5.5 production facility to start in the middle of 2011Samsung Mobile Display, a mobile screen venture of Samsung Electronics has announced that it has begun construction of a $2.1 billion organic display line to start production from July 2011. The new facility is reported to use Gen 5.5 (1300 x 1500mm) equipment and have a monthly capacity of 70,000 substrates, that is capable of producing 30 million 3-inch mobile screens each month.
Samsung Mobile Display is an equal joint venture between memory chip
and LCD giant Samsung Electronics and rechargeable battery maker Samsung
SDI. AUO to begin trial production of AM-OLED panelsInitial production of small and medium size displays by end of 2010According to a report by Digitimes, AUO is to make modifications to an existing low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) production line to make it suitable for AM-OLED production. It is estimated that initial production will begin towards the end of 2010. The Gen 3.5 production line will produce small to medium size AM-OLED displays. Prime View International (PVI) changes its name to E Ink holdings IncE Ink is now the world's largest supplier of displays to the eBook market.Yuan Tai Technologies Inc. has recently announced that it has changed the international version of its name from Prime View International (PVI) to E Ink Holdings Incorporated (E Ink). E Ink Holdings Inc. will offer its ePaper products under the brand name 'E Ink' and its LCD products under the brand name 'Hydis'. According to the announcement the company has over 20 million electronic paper displays in the field, the company's E Ink-branded ePaper displays are used in applications such as eBooks, eNewspapers, eTextbooks, Wristwatches, Smart Cards, Shelf Labels, Battery/Memory Indicators, Mobile Phones, Public Information and Promotional Signs. E Ink is now the world's largest supplier of displays to the eBook market. Dr. Scott Liu, Chairman and CEO of E Ink Holdings Inc., said, "The E Ink name is synonymous with the ePaper industry that we pioneered and in which we enjoy a leadership position." Dr. Scott Liu, added, "We are now a globally recognized brand name and aim to have our displays on every smart surface." E Ink is continuing to make major investments in research, development and capacity expansion to support the growing demand for its LCD and ePaper products. Organic semiconductor industry market watchWeek ending 25 June 2010
Thin Film Electronics priced in Norwegian Kroner www.nasdaq.com www.londonstockexchange.com www.osloaxess.no |
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OSA Direct welcomes news items of either a technical or commercial nature from its readers. To forward news to be considered for publication please contact the editorial team at news@osa-direct.com To advertise in OSA Direct contact advertise@osa-direct.com We have your email address listed as {{E-Mail}}. To update your email address or to unsubscribe from the newsletter, please visit the update mailing list page. © copyright cintelliq ltd 2010 |
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Photonis Technologies has announced that the company has acquired
a 51% stake in MicroOLED, developers of OLED based microdisplays.
