The production value of Taiwan's e-paper industry reached NT$13.2 billion (US$444.67 million) in first-half 2011, up 6% from second-half 2010 and 70% from the same period of 2010, statistics of Photonics Industry and Technology Development Association (PIDA) showed.

Industry sources said e-book readers are rising to become a serious competitor of tablet PCs. Further price cuts of e-book readers can be expected to spur sales in the fourth quarter, they pointed out.

The scale of the e-paper industry may expand to a level large enough for it to compete with smartphones and tablet PCs, they said.

E Ink Holding, the world's leading supplier of e-paper, posted total sales of NT$3.47 billion in August, thanks to clients' releases of new e-book readers. The company expects a total NT$10 billion in revenues for the third quarter due to a positive outlook for second-half 2011.

Source:digitimes