Electronic Shelf Labels

E Ink Holdings says that Walmart has decdied to deploy electronic shelf labels at 500 stores in the US. The first stage will call for the installation of 60 million panels, in the next 12-18 months, and will be handled by E Ink's partner, SES-imagotag.

E Ink sees growing demand for its displays, and is planning a multi-year capacity expansion plan. The company expects its revenues next year to increase sharply following Walmart's orders, and it also expects a modest increase in 2023. 

E Ink Holdings says that it expects its revenue to increase slightly in this quarter as demand for electronic shelf labels is on the rise, but it raises concerns about a recession in the near future which could decrease demand for e-readers and e-notebooks.

EIH is targeting to enter the US ESL market via partners next year, and it estimates that it the market in the US is 10 times bigger compared to the EU market. The company is currently not changing its capital expenditure plans for 2022 and 2023, and it plans to increase production in its production lines in Hschincu, Taiwan (and build new lines) in 2022-2025. It has decided to delay its planned new line in Guanyin. 

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Poland-based perovskite solar developer Sulate Technologies launched a new technology that integrates perovskite solar panels with ePaper Electronic Shelf Labels. The company says that these are the first ESLs of its kind, and they use either 2-color or 3-color E Ink panels.

Perovskite solar panels are highly efficient, and can maintain their high efficiency in artificial light, and also in indirect indoor lighting, which makes this solution viable in many installation environments, unlike conventional solar-based solar panels. The perovskite panels are also highly flexible, light and thin.

E Ink Holdings launched a new display called E Ink Spectra 3100, which is a next-generation four-color ePaper display aimed to support Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) and retail signage.

Thew new Spectra 3100 features four-particle electronic ink, in black, white, red and yellow. It features an improved update time, and an expanded temperature range for red and yellow states. Spectra 3100 displays will be offered in panels with an updated all-in-one driver IC that supports premium ESLs with higher resolution across various sizes.

E Ink Holdings says it plans to double its capital expenditure this year (to $56.5 million) in order to expand its capacity and meet its customer demand. EIH is now building four new production lines in Taiwan.

EIH says its capacity is now fully booked for the year, and it is quite sure it will be able to find customers for its new capacity as demand is strong. The company's revenues in the first two months of the year rose by 77% compared to last year. The main growth driver seems to electronic shelf label displays, but EIH also sees higher sales for e-readers and e-notebooks.

Korea-based SoluM says it has won ESL orders worth 550 billion Won ($491 million USD) in Q4 2020. The new orders are from the company's new European distributors.

SoluM says it expects its ESL business to hit record sales in 2021. The company says it is currently the world's third largest ESL vendor (following SES Imageotag and Sweden's Pricer). It is the top vendor in North America and in South Korea. SoluM's goal is to become the world's leading supplier of ESL solutions.

Flexible OTFT E Ink display designer and producer Plastic Logic announced a "significant investment" in its business from China-based e-paper display maker DKE Displays.

DKE currently produced specialized ePaper displays for applications such as electronic shelf labels (ESLs), smart cards, internet of things and smart clothing. Access to Plastic Logic's OTFT based displays will enable the company to integrate rugged, lightweight and flexible products for its target markets (mostly wearables).

UST Global announced that it is developing flexible whole-shelf electronic shelf labels, based on Plastic Logic’s advanced flexible OTFT-based E Ink technology.

UST's upcoming shelf labels will be available in a variety of sizes - up to 4 feet long and 1.75-inch deep. These innovative new labels will enable retailers to display product information and pricing across entire shelves.

E Ink Holdings says that it expects revenues in Q4 2020 to be somewhat stronger than its revenues in Q3 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to increase demand for e-readers, e-notebooks and electronic shelf labels.

EIH's Chairman Johnson Lee says that the company expects next year to be strong as well, and the company increased its capacity expansion plans for 2021 as it needs to be ready for stronger demand in the future.