eInk and PVI Crearte One Vertical eInk Company

E Ink, the company that invented the e-paper displays on all the lookey likie ereaders such as the Kindle, Bebook, Hanlin, IRex and Sony and many more, has been acquired by Tiawanese Prime View International, which makes e-paper displays for the majority of the ereaders. The price is claimed to be some $215 million.

PVI acquired the e-paper business of Philips Electronics in 2005 and partnered with E Ink to provide ereader displays for the likes of the Kindle and Sony Reader. PVI also invested in flexible displays and has acquired a majority stakeholding in Hydis Technologies in Korea, who supply the transistor backplanes used in e-paper. The new combination creates a single company dedicated to electronic paper that will potentially speed up development.

E Ink and Prime View (PVI) were already partners and the goal is now to combine forces and expand capacity and e-paper improvements and push developments such as the long overdue colour and flexible displays.