Flexible Display and Electronics Conference Focuses on Next Wave E-Books

To accelerate development of the growing e-book industry in Taiwan, as well as attempt to boost the island into a leading position in the global market, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) recently held the 2009 Flexible Display & Electronics Technology Exchange Conference, focusing on the next wave of progress in electronic books (e-books).

More than 400 professionals from related industries and venture-capital organizations participated in the one-day conference to learn more about the future of e-books. ITRI also exhibited its latest R&D achievements, which point to the future of e-book technology development, at the conference venue.

Dr. Johnsee Lee, ITRI`s President, pointed out that in the future e-books will be integrated with cellphones and mini-notebook PCs (netbooks), upgrading netbooks from single-function application platforms into multi-functional devices that play a key role in daily lives. Lee stressed, however, that before this happens the e-book will rapidly evolve from monochrome to color display and from a thick and heavy reading device into a light and thin one with growing applications in colored e-books, electronic newspapers, electronic signboards, electronic textbooks, etc. In the near future, Lee predicted, the annual global production value of e-books will soar to $12 billion.

The e-book will also bring major changes in people`s daily lives, Lee added, by stimulating new reading habits, learning modes, text creation, and types of publications. E-books are expected to continuously develop into more demassified, personalized, internet-based, and mobilized intelligent information technology (IT) devices, while other related digital-content service platforms and business models will also continue to be developed. These changes, Lee emphasized, will lead to the formation of more and more new service businesses, making the e-book one of the paradigms of new-technology applications.

Chan Wen-hsin, Senior Consultant to the Economic Ministry`s Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT), said at the conference that the development of the e-book industry has become one of the hottest issues in the world, and that after years of vigorous effort Taiwan has jumped onto the international stage as (so far) the only country supplying electrophoresis (EP) technology display panels and e-book readers. So, Chan stressed, now is the best time to construct a more comprehensive supply chain in the local e-book industry to meet the next wave of e-book development: flexible displays and electronics.

Flexible electronics is a key technology slated by the Taiwan government for priority development, Chan said, and the Economic Ministry has been promoting development of the technology by providing various incentives such as subsidies, through the Science and Technology Development Project, for new-technology development and innovation by private manufacturers. Some leading domestic companies have recognized the future potential of flexible display and electronic products, and have applied to the government to set up cooperative ties with ITRI for the joint development of commercialized products. Among these companies are the AU Optronics Corp (AUO), Taiwan`s largest thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel manufacturer, and IC design house Elan Microelectronics Corp. Such partnerships between private manufacturers and research institutes like ITRI, Chen said, will further consolidate the leading position of Taiwan in the global e-book industry.

Source: CENS