The Taiwanese government decided to support its industry of electronic books and allocate for this purpose 2 billion Taiwan dollars, or about 65 million U.S. dollars. According to the Bureau of Industrial Development (Industrial Development Bureau), the company will receive from the state subsidy of up to 40% of the necessary investment in programs to develop new technologies related to the industry.
Today Taiwan is a market leader in digital books, and exclusive supplier of e-paper displays for such popular devices as the Amazon Kindle and Sony eReader. According to market research firm DisplaySearch, Taiwanese manufacturer Prime View International (PVI) covers about 90% of the market displays for electronic books. The rest of the almost complete control over another Taiwanese company, AU Optronics (AUO). PVI has absorbed a certain company E-Ink, and AUO has invested in SiPix Imaging.
Projected DisaplySearch, in 2009, sales of electronic books in quantitative terms, to reach four million, and next year we could double. Despite some pessimistic statements about the industry, the Taiwanese Government is confident that mass production will reduce the retail prices of electronic books from $300 to $100. In addition, next year will have many new models with color screens and touch functionality.
Materials on the topic:
– E-book iriver Story with QWERTY-keyboard;
– Intel Reader voiced printed books and newspapers;
– “reading room” PocketBook available in the U.S. under the brand name Dulin.
