Financial

iSupply performed a teardown analysis on the Kindle 2011, and according to them the 6" E Ink Pearl display costs $30.5. This is the most expensive component on the Kindle - which costs $84 on the whole (BOM and assembly). This means that Amazon is actually losing $5 on each ad-supported device sold - which cost $79

E Ink Holdings reported revenue of NT$2.25 billion ($74.5 million USD) for 3Q 2011 - up 20% from 2Q. The net profit for the first nine months of 2011 was NT$5.25 billion ($173.8 million USD). The company expects the business to continue to improve in the last quarter based on strong e-reader demand.

The company's chairman says that e-readers are recession-proof - because in bad times people spend more time reading. He says that he's still optimistic that e-reader shipments will reach 25-30 million units in 2011.

3M New Ventures announced that it will invest in Pixel Qi - and this will conclude the company's Series "B" investment round. Pixel Qi says that this round will enable it to ramp up display production. Pixel Qi will also enter new markets (digital signage and touch applications). The investment amount wasn't disclosed.

E Ink Holdings says they expect e-paper shipments for e-readers to increase over 50% in 2H 2011. They now project total 2011 shipments of 25-30 million (up from 2030 million, the previous estimate).

E Ink Holdings reported that their revenues for the first half of 2011 were NT$17.01 billion (about $600 million) - up 67% compared to last year. E Ink says that this growth is even more impressive when you consider that the second quarter is traditionally the low season for the electronics industry.

CopyTele announced it has signed two license agreements with AUO to produce and market their e-paper and nano-display (LVND) technologies. AUO's e-paper license is exclusive and they can also sublicense the technology to third parties. The nano-display patents license is non exclusive.

AUO will pay $10 million to CopyTele for those license. There are also royalty payments by AUO. CopyTele's e-paper technology is electrophoretic based and utilizes specially coated particles in combination with a unique type of pixel structure to create an image.

Portugal's Ynvisible won a grant from the Portuguese National Strategic Reference Framework (QREN) to help develop electrochromic displays. The total project is valued at over €1 million. Ynvisible's electrochromic ink technology is aimed towards packaging, advertising, print media, signage and smart wearables. Initial products will include point-of-sale posters and advertising.