E Ink, Freescale to develop integrated processors for fast-growing eBook market

AUSTIN & CAMBRIDGE, USA: The industry’s top provider of processors for eBooks has joined forces with the leading supplier of eBook electronic paper displays to develop highly integrated embedded solutions that lower costs and foster innovation for eBook manufacturers and their customers.

Freescale Semiconductor and E Ink Corp. have agreed to jointly develop system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions that integrate Freescale’s i.MX processor technology with E Ink’s Vizplex display controller.

The partnership is designed to lower costs and expand the ecosystem of supporting electronics for the eBook market. The collaboration also is expected to spark innovation for emerging product categories such as eNewspapers, tablet PCs, laptop secondary displays, eNotebooks and eDictionaries.

"Our aim is to provide the world’s best digital reading experience,” said Sriram Peruvemba, vice president of marketing for E Ink. “E Ink’s joint development work with Freescale will enable several new markets, including eNewspapers and eTextbooks.”

According to a 2009 DisplaySearch report, eBook unit shipments are expected to grow from one million units in 2008 to more than 75 million units in 2018 with a value of approximately $3.8 billion. Market drivers include new eBooks in the market, international expansion of eBook availability, anticipated price declines and the electronic distribution of newspapers and textbooks.

"Freescale is the world’s leading supplier of processors for the fast-growing eBook market,” said Glen Burchers, marketing director of Freescale’s Consumer Segment. “Integrating E Ink’s market-leading electronic paper display controller with i.MX processor technology will result in lower-cost, sleeker form factor eBooks – a great combination for consumers.”

“We are very excited to see this cooperation,” said Johnson Lee, vice president of Prime View International. “The market demand for electronic paper displays has outpaced even the most optimistic market projections, with many new companies around the world entering the eBook reader market. This co-operation between E Ink and Freescale is an exciting next step in enabling this trend to continue.”