Electronics

Since 2022, the concept of electronic paper has become popular quietly. Among its many application scenarios, the flat field is undoubtedly becoming the most popular market segment. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

Now, the electronic paper tablet market is ushering in a new moment. In December 2022, two major technology manufacturers, Lenovo and Xiaomi, launched their new products respectively - the ink tablet YOGA Paper and Xiaomi e-paper book Note. It is worth noting that these two products are equipped with 10.3 inch electronic paper screens. Since Huawei entered the market in March this year, the player camp of the electronic paper tablet market has expanded again. So, apart from traditional reader manufacturers, why do Huawei, Lenovo, Xiaomi and other well-known new players also choose to enter the field of electronic paper tablets? Can the tablet market become the fulcrum for the explosion of electronic paper industry?

Is the electronic paper flat market changing?

In the field of display, electronic paper technology is favored by tablet related manufacturers due to its natural advantages of low power consumption and eye health. At present, e-paper tablets are mainly used in reading, office and education scenes. According to the difference of main functions, the research institute RUNTO divides the electronic paper plates into three categories: readers, intelligent office books and intelligent learning books. Among them, the reader is a flat panel with reading as the core function and the size is generally less than 9 inches; The intelligent office book has complex functions such as reading, handwriting, biometrics, multi device collaboration, split screen, etc. It is mainly used in office scenes such as meetings and business negotiations, and its size is generally more than 9 inches; The intelligent learning book is mainly used in autonomous learning, classroom teaching and other educational scenes, and its size is generally more than 9 inches. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

Since 2022, e-paper tablets have experienced three waves of centralized release of new products. March, May and September of 2022 have become the peak of e-paper tablets. According to incomplete statistics, 14 brands released 24 e-paper smart tablets in the first nine months of 2022. Among many brands, in addition to the traditional professional reader brands such as Kindle, Handreading, Bigme, Wenshi, Hanwang, Huawei, Xiaomi, Lenovo, Hisense and other new players have begun to rise strongly.

"2022 is the first year of the electronic paper plate market." Zhang Ning, director of the analysis and research of the electronic paper industry of Lotu Technology, told the China Electronic News that many traditional consumer electronic products were depressed under the influence of the COVID-19, and electronic paper plates became a rare eye-catching category, providing enterprises with a new choice. At present, traditional brands are constantly enriching their product matrix, consumer electronics giants Huawei, Xiaomi, Lenovo and other manufacturers are actively deploying, and cross-border and cross industry participants are also constantly joining.

Then, with the participation of consumer electronics giants, will the electronic paper tablet market usher in changes?

According to the observation report of Huacheng's import and export data, Zhou Guofu, a distinguished professor of South China Normal University and chairman of Shenzhen Guohua Optoelectronic Technology Co., Ltd., believes that Huawei, Xiaomi, Lenovo and other e-paper tablets have played two roles: on the one hand, they have significantly improved the application market scale and attention of large-scale e-paper in the consumer end, and accelerated the R&D and innovation of major ink screen manufacturers; On the other hand, the audience of the electronic paper tablet has gradually expanded from the initial reading crowd to the learning and office crowd, and the adaptation of application scenarios has been further consolidated.

Different from traditional reader brands, Huawei, Xiaomi, Lenovo and others are leaders in the field of consumer electronics. Zhou Guofu pointed out that, on the one hand, they have strong technical vertical integration capabilities, and some "black technologies" are emerging constantly, supporting the intelligence of electronic paper; On the other hand, it has a deep brand influence and a large customer base, which are conducive to the success of commercialization.

"The addition of new players has further activated the market environment, and the use of electronic paper tablets is rapidly expanding from the traditional single reading scene to the daily office, study, life and other multiple scenes, making the originally quiet market glow with new luster and vitality," Zhang Ning said.

Tablet is the strongest growth point in the electronic paper industry

In recent two years, with the gradual increase of online mobile office scenarios, tablet products with diverse functions and portability have become the main intelligent terminals for mobile office and digital production. The electronic paper tablet is unique in the tablet market with its "green" advantages of eye protection and low power consumption. According to the prediction of Lotu Technology, the global sales of electronic paper tablets will reach 11 million in 2022 and 50 million in 2025, with an annual compound growth rate of more than 60%. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

In the context of the increasingly frequent online teaching and mobile office, the tablet has become an indispensable long-term viewing carrier due to its portability. However, there is no "eye protection" display that supports the playing of mainstream color video information. Zhou Guofu emphasized: "This is exactly the value of the electronic paper plate of 'paper like' eye protection and the fulcrum of the market explosion."

In March this year, Huawei launched its first electronic paper tablet MatePad Paper and positioned it as a smart office product, which quickly became the fastest growing single product after its listing. According to Lotto's data, the online sales of MatePad Paper in May, two months after its launch, directly surpassed the Kindle Youth Edition, which had occupied the first place for a long time, and became the best selling model; In May, June and July, it dominated the online market of e-paper flat for three consecutive months. The monthly sales volume in May exceeded 10000 units, becoming the only electronic paper office book that has sold 10000 units online in a single month so far.

When the "icebreaker" made a successful demonstration, the successors increased their weight one after another. It can be found that the smart tablet extended by the "e-paper screen" shows a very large market potential, which extends to the two major areas of learning and office, namely the so-called office book and learning book. And these two contests are also the focus of domestic brands. In contrast, the reason why the former "reading artifact" Kindle withdrew from the Chinese market is related to its failure to innovate in a timely manner due to its adherence to a single function. As the Kindle fades out of the Chinese market, Chinese brands that have entered the market are gradually taking over the leading role in the market and injecting new vitality into it, Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.

"From the perspective of product release frequency, the number of new entrants, product sales and other aspects, the electronic paper plate will be the strongest segment product category in the electronic paper industry in 2022, and will also be an important growth pole supporting the development of the electronic paper industry in the next few years." Zhang Ning believes that the depth of the electronic paper plate conforms to the design concept of environment-friendly and sustainable environment, and has unique advantages such as energy conservation and eye protection, The future development space is very broad.

As one of the excellent solutions under the global goal of "double carbon", the development of electronic paper flat products conforms to the general trend of green low-carbon. However, Zhou Guofu also pointed out a big challenge for electronic paper tablets. He told reporters that the current electronic paper plate is mainly based on the principle of "electrophoresis". Technically, it has not really broken through the bottleneck of color video information playing; Compared with the existing LCD, OLED and other display terminals, there is still a big gap in performance and function. In the early stage of filling the market gap, because of the difference and the "analgesic" effect, we can obtain development space. In the long run, there is an urgent need to play the main content of benchmarking information and make a fundamental breakthrough in the field of color and video.

Zhang Ning added: "In the future, practitioners in the electronic paper flat field need to continue to improve in industrial design, software adaptation, scene experience and other aspects."