Best known as the longtime e-paper provider for Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle, Taiwan’s E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技) is accelerating a push beyond e-readers and other mobile devices.
The company envisages art galleries, libraries and transport terminals adopting its skin, or film, as the color palette is expanding beyond black and white.
Each step takes time and success is far from certain — BMW AG reached out to E Ink in 2019 before it unveiled a prototype of its color-changing car iX Flow sport utility vehicle last month to demonstrate the potential to revolutionize a vehicle’s looks.
Photo: AFP
E Ink is confident its technology will break through as architects and auto designers realize its potential.
“Personalization is a key focus,” E Ink president F.Y. Gan (甘豐源) said in an interview. “As industries undergo digital transformation, they will need new materials and new manufacturing models.”
Shares of E Ink soared 365 percent over the past two years and reached a record last month, valuing the company at more than US$6 billion as investors bet it would become another Taiwanese success story in the electronics and semiconductor industries the nation relies on.
All nine analysts covering the stock recommend buying it, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The innovation that allows surfaces to change color is called electrophoretic technology. The E Ink film contains different color pigments that, when stimulated by various electrical signals, rise to the surface of the skin, causing it to change hue.
The BMW concept vehicle lets drivers change the look of its exterior from black to white and back, or display both colors in a kaleidoscope of graphics across its body.
Automakers represent a major potential growth market for E Ink, although the company first started out marketing its color-changing film to designers and architects working with buildings.
Marketed as Prism, the technology was prominently used in a massive programmable art installation at the San Diego International Airport.
While E Ink’s technology has been around for years, challenges include tailoring the layer for various products and ensuring that it withstands different temperatures and weather conditions.
In the case of BMW, engineers had to shape it for the vehicle, with the help of E Ink experts sent to Germany to assist. COVID-19 outbreaks slowed down the development process.
“We provided our e-paper materials to BMW, and they were responsible for coming up with the graphic design and turning it into a car wrap,” Gan said. “BMW treated this project with strict confidentiality and even we didn’t know what the car looked like until they unveiled it.”
Beyond the wow factor, the technology has the potential to reduce energy consumption, as the white color option helps keep the vehicle cooler during the day, Gan said.
The same applies to buildings — electricity is only required to change the color, not to maintain it.
While it is unclear if BMW would turn its concept vehicle into a commercial product, E Ink is forging ahead with next-generation colored wraps to let consumers customize their belongings. It is also targeting smaller surfaces such as dynamic retail store price tags and smart license plates for cars.
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