According to RUNTO, global shipments of e-paper label modules reached 102 million units in the first half of 2021, up 55.4% year on year, and more than 200 million units are expected to be shipped for the full year, up 15.2% year on year.
E-paper label module: 200 million pieces shipped in 2021, 400 million pieces shipped in 2022
Due to the interlace of COVID-19 and other factors, the upstream chip shortage is serious. It is estimated that the shipment of e-paper label modules in the second half of the year is less than expected, with a year-on-year decrease of 8.4%, just reaching 100 million pieces, and a total of more than 200 million pieces in the whole year.
As supply chains improve and demand continues to grow, RUNTO expects global e-paper label module shipments to double to 407 million units in 2022.
Driven by technological advances and intelligent scenarios, e-paper tags are being used in more and more fields. According to RUNTO, in 2021, 87 percent of the global e-paper label applications will be in smart retail (i.e. electronic shelf pick), 5 percent in smart office, 3 percent in smart warehousing, and 5 percent in smart manufacturing, smart healthcare and other sectors.
Overall e-paper terminal market: the global scale will exceed 70 billion US dollars in 2025
With the invention and application of color technology, e-readers, the traditional application products of electronic paper, are once again facing a surge in demand, especially in the United States, China, Europe and other major economies, where the habit of online browsing and digital reading is gaining popularity. Therefore, e-readers will become the main market for new e-paper applications.
On the upstream end of capacity, in terms of diaphragm, supplier PTEK aims to triple by the end of this year and tenfold by 2025. In terms of modules, boe, DKE, Qingyue, Holitai, Chuanqi (Yuantai) and Qixin Optoelectronics are planning to expand their production capacity several times in 2022.
In terms of the overall end market, RUNTO predicts that the global e-paper end products market will reach $11.3 billion in 2021, and will break through 70 billion to reach $72.3 billion in 2025, with a five-year compound growth rate of 59%.
Liu Senhua, general manager of China Area of Yuantai Technology, believes that in the education market, electronic paper conforms to the national regulations and has the effect of not hurting the eye, which will usher in opportunities; Shelf sign combined with the deployment of the Internet of things, will be multiple growth; Users are gradually recognizing the intelligent scene life; The future development trend of electronic paper technology will have three development directions: large size, color and flexibility. RUNTO technology (RUNTO) believes that once the IC problem is solved, the e-paper industry will see explosive growth.