Electronic paper is entering a transition period from black and white to color. Following the rapid growth in previous years, the global e-paper market will diverge in 2023. Subdivided application fields have both the joy of continuing to reap “explosive” growth and the worry of facing the challenge of “stagflation”. In 2024, the electronic paper industry ushering in the “full-color era” will encounter “growing pains.”
Are the new growth tracks facing “stagflation”?
Under the global trend of digitalization and sustainable development, the e-paper industry with a “green and low-carbon” halo is in a period of rapid development. However, after experiencing explosive growth in 2022, the e-paper market will see a certain decline in 2023. According to research data, in the first three quarters of 2023, global e-paper module shipments were 182 million pieces, a year-on-year decrease of 2.3%; it is expected to reach 230 million pieces for the whole of 2023, a year-on-year decrease of 9.7%. So, do the above market fluctuations indicate that the nascent electronic paper industry has encountered a “stagflation period”?
From the perspective of application fields, the current demand for e-paper is mainly concentrated in the B-end commercial market and C-end consumer market. The application fields of the former include smart retail, logistics, office, medical, industry, etc.; the latter mainly focuses on e-paper reading. devices, handwriting notebooks, educational notebooks, smart homes, etc.
From the perspective of the B-end market, the global economic slowdown and sluggish demand continue to exist. All countries are facing pressure from the external environment. The market demand for e-paper labels has seen sales slowdown and high inventory in the second half of the year, leading to overall Market shipments declined. From the perspective of the C-end market, the decline in e-paper tablets mainly came from the first half of the year. The consumption power of the global market has weakened, the consumer electronics market has declined, and some international manufacturers have significantly reduced their production plans for next year.
The statement that the electronic paper market will decline in 2023 is more applicable to the electronic price label segment, while electronic paper notebooks (eNote) have experienced substantial growth.
Industry experts analyze that e-paper will have a large market growth space in the fields of large-size tablets, educational tablets, electronic labels, outdoor displays, etc. Among them, the future application of e-paper tablets in the field of education will be a major factor in industry growth. driving force.
Colorization has become an inevitable trend
For a long time, as a display technology widely used in e-books, electronic paper can only display black and white. This is why the old name “ink screen” has become a stereotype about electronic paper in the eyes of ordinary consumers. In fact, the colorization process of electronic paper has already begun, and the public’s expectations for color electronic paper products are gradually rising.
Color electronic paper has been around for a long time. In recent years, “colorization” has made great progress in the field of electronic paper labels. It has gradually transitioned from the previous “black and white two-color” to “multi-color”. development stage. At present, the proportion of black and white has dropped to 7%, three colors account for the highest proportion, and the proportion of four colors is gradually increasing. At the same time, the realization of five-color display in the field of electronic paper labels will no longer be far away in the future.
However, from the perspective of large-size development fields such as electronic paper tablets and signage, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the advancement of colorization compared with electronic labels. There are certain problems such as insufficient contrast and low refresh rate caused by poor color reproduction. . However, with the iteration and maturity of technology, colorization in various fields of electronic paper is an inevitable development trend.
Colorful electronic paper signage used in transportation field
The transition of electronic paper from black and white to full color means important technological progress and market expansion. It is an inevitable trend in the development of the electronic paper industry and an important turning point in the electronic paper industry. This transition means that electronic paper products will be more realistic, Vivid, better meet people’s strong demand for color and dynamic display.
The greatest significance of the transition of electronic paper from black and white to full color is that it can greatly broaden its application scope. In the future, it can be used on a larger scale in electronic textbooks, electronic price tags, indoor and outdoor advertising, various types of signs, smart wearables, smart homes, etc. Applications. The relevant person in charge of Aoyi Electronics pointed out that at present, the penetration rate of color e-paper in the e-paper reader and handwriting notebook market is still very low, and the emergence of color e-paper will usher in a healthier and diversified development of the industry. In the future, it is expected to help the electronic paper industry quickly achieve a market capacity of 100 billion US dollars.
From a technical point of view, it is understood that the products currently on the market are basically based on the principle of electrophoresis. The principle of controlling the movement of particles by applying the polarity and intensity of the electric field to achieve grayscale control determines its performance in colorization and videoization. It has inherent shortcomings and can only be limited to low refresh rate and narrow color gamut applications.
The “full color era” also has challenges
Looking forward to 2024, industry experts believe that the development direction of electronic paper technology will point to large size, color, and high resolution. Overall, the electronic paper industry will show continued growth and a hundred flowers blooming.
E-paper basic products will continue to grow in 2024. Among them, after the inventory is cleared in the first quarter, Wal-Mart and others will implement large orders for e-paper labels, thereby pushing the e-paper label market back to the fast lane; with the recovery of the consumer side and the demand from the education sector, e-paper tablets are growing in China The market will continue to maintain rapid growth. In addition to the two basic products of e-paper labels and tablets, B-side digital signage will be one of the categories that the industry pays most attention to after labels and tablets. Many European countries are facing an energy crisis and have formulated new regulations to limit the use of digital billboards. opening hours. E-paper display technology has the characteristics of low power consumption and can even rely on solar panels to achieve renewable energy operation. It will be one of the solutions to replace high-energy-consuming digital billboards.
Post time: Jan-19-2024