Electronic Shelf Labels

E Ink Holdings announced that it plans to invest $157-$250 million in 2026, as it continues to expand its capacity, mostly to increase its production of electronic shelf labels (ESLs) and digital signage.

EIH will start producing large panels at its new H6 production line at Hsinchu later in 2026, but the company is already working to increase capacity further. The company's plan is to build a new production lin eat Taoyuan's Guanyin District, and also to expand its capacity in the US.

E Ink Holdings, said that it expects its revenue and profits to both reach record highs in the next three years, as there's rising demand for large signage displays, and also strong demand for ESLs and color e-readers. 

E Ink is planning to build a new production line (which will be called H6) to expand its capacity, targeting large e-paper signage displays. The total investment in the new fab, which will be in Taoyuan, Taiwan, will be around $107 million.

E Ink announced that it has developed a new technology that enabled it to reduce page flashing and enhance color performance in its E Ink Spectra displays.

By implementing a wave-like transition effect known as E Ink Ripple, screen refresh effects are minimized, enabling a smoother transition between display updates. Additionally, by leveraging the newly developed waveform driving architecture, E Ink enhances color mixing for its E Ink Spectra products by using the existing color particles to create new color options.

E Ink announced a collaboration with Realtek Semiconductor to unveil the second-generation System-on-Panel (SoP) electronic shelf label (ESL) reference design.

E Ink says that this new design is an innovation solution simplifies ESL development, significantly reducing the barrier to entry. Under identical display areas, the new-generation design achieves approximately a 30% reduction in thin-film transistor (TFT) size and a 50% decrease in flexible printed circuit (FPC) dimensions. This enables streamlined ESLs with slimmer borders perfectly suited for diverse retail environments.

Earlier this month E Ink Holdings said that the first quarter of 2024 will be its lowest point in the year, and indeed now the company formally reported its earnings, saying that there was a 25% decline in profits (to about $40.9 million) in Q1, as its customers struggled with an excessive inventory which resulted in decline in orders.

E Ink says that this decline is due to the transition to color ESL solutions, and it expects its IoT business to return to normal growth by Q3 2024. Its e-Reader business segment is seeing robust growth, better than expected, signalling a smooth switch to color ePaper solutions.  The company retains its positive outlook for this year, expecting revenue to grow every quarter going forward.

E Ink Holdings says business is recovering gradually from an inventory correction cycle. Demand for E Ink displays has risen, mainly due to the adoption of new color EPD displays for e-readers and electronic shelf labels (ESLs). The company believes that the first quarter of 2024 will be its lowest point in the year, and revenues will start rising in Q2 and onwards.

E Ink further says that many ESL customers are expected to increase orders in the third quarter of 2024, and a large retailer in North America has started replacing paper labels with ESLs. This could be Walmart as we published last year. 

Himax Technologies and E Ink Holdings announced a new collaboration to a revolutionary ultralow power battery-operated smart retail solution. The solution incorporates Himax's leading-edge WiseEye ultralow power AI sensing technology with E Ink’s signage EPD, featuring industry-leading E Ink’s Kaleido displays.

Leveraging WiseEye, the smart retail solution deploys context-aware AI in human presence and shopper insight detection while also significantly enhancing the already impressive battery life of an ePaper display and enabling real-time personalized marketing. Himax WiseEye ultralow power AI sensing technology incorporates Himax proprietary ultralow power AI processor, always-on CMOS image sensor, and CNN-based AI algorithm, offering state-of-the-art ultralow power, always-on sensing, on-device context-aware AI and has been widely deployed in consumer electronics and AIoT related applications. 

E Ink announced it is collaborating with Realtek Semiconductor, Integrated Solutions Technology (IST), and Chipbond Technology to develop the System on Panel (SoP) architecture, to be integrated into the next-generation electronic shelf label (ESL) jointly developed with the system integrator, SOLUM. 

SOLUM is the number one US ESL solution provider, and the project's aim is to simplify the material structure of ESL and bring a sustainable solution via reduced material usage, lower power consumption and simplified production processes.

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.