201O International Conference on Future Information Technology and Management Engineering

Electronic Paper Book: Strengths, Problems, Opportunities

and Challenges
Tong Li Liping Chen
Department of Management Department of Management
Tianjin University of Technology Tianjin University of Technology
Tianjin, China Tianjin, China

litong2002@sohu.com lipingchen@eyou.com

Abstract - Electronic paper book (EPB) is a brand new emitting its own light. An e-paper display can be read in direct
concept and product different from traditional electronic sunlight without the image appearing to fade.
readers. In the recent two years, from technology to product,
EPB has been developed rapidly, creating a prosperous market. B. Basic Principle of Electronic Paper
EPB means a great milestone-like revolution for both the Electronic paper was first developed in the 1970s by Nick
information content industry and high tech manufacturing Sheridon at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. In the 1990s
industry. EPB undoubtedly has many strengths Compared with another type of electronic paper was invented by Joseph
traditional media. There are also many opportunities for EPB Jacobson, who later co-founded the E Ink Corporation which
industry. But problems and challenges are unavoidable. After a
formed a partnership with Philips Components two years later
brief introduction to EPB, strengths of it are introduced first.
to develop and market the technology. This used tiny
Problems of EPB are mainly discussed then. Opportunities and
microcapsules filled with electrically charged white particles
challenges are analyzed next (SPOC). Finally some
countermeasures are proposed for development of EPB. suspended in a colored oil. In early versions, the underlying
circuitry controlled whether the white particles were at the top
Index Terms - Electronic paper book, Electronic Ink, of the capsule (so it looked white to the viewer) or at the
Electronic reader, Strengths, Opportunities
bottom of the capsule (so the viewer saw the color of the oil).
This was essentially a reintroduction of the well-known
I. INTRODUCTION
electrophoretic display technology, but the use of
The 43th International Consumption Electronic microcapsules allowed the display to be used on flexible
Exhibition held in Las Vegas at January 7, 2010 Beijing time plastic sheets instead of glass. Pixel appearance performs the
was the consuming electronic product exhibition with largest work of display as shown in fig. 1.
volume and biggest influence in the world. CNN appraised the
eight big trends of this exhibit, in which electronic paper book 1 pixel
>-------i
(EPB) was on the second position. According to the }
W UULJLJU Transparenl Electrode Layer
evaluation of Price Waterhouse Coopers, in 2012, sales } Liquid Polymer Layer
volume of EPB in the world will reach 9.6 biIIion US dollars.
}
.;::a.;�UIA�A::....>lUl�.Il.A::.Li..:.a..i.AJO.i:ji�..R..a;.. Conlalnlng E·lnk Capsules

And in 2018, sales volume of EPB will surpass that of paper n nnnnn Lower Eleclrode Layer

book. It demonstrates that EPB must be a new economic

growth point for the electronic information and consuming �� Appearan� 01 pluls
(seen from above Ihrough
products industries. Iransparenl eleclrode layer)

A. Characteristics of EPB
Different from "electronic book" or "electronic reader"
that refer to digitalization of book contents, EPB is a brand Fig. 1 Appearance of pixels: basic principle of e-paper
new phenomena, a portable reader based on electronic-ink
display exactly. Electronic ink display is a display technology
II. STRENGTHS ANALYSIS
designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper.
Unlike a conventional flat panel display, which uses a A. Small and Exquisite with Various Functions and Large
backlight to illuminate its pixels, electronic paper reflects light Capacity
like ordinary paper. To build e-paper, several different it supports hand writing input and has soft keyboard. It
technologies exist, some using plastic substrate and can memorize current page, compile articles and annotate with
electronics so that the display is flexible. Anecdotal evidence comments. EPB can accommodate thousands of books. It is
suggests that e-paper is more comfortable to read than predicted that in the future several years EPB can
conventional displays. This is due to the stable image, which accommodate contents of a complete library.
does not need to be refreshed constantly, the wider viewing B. Low Energy Consumption and High Reading Efficiency
angle, and the fact that it reflects ambient light rather than with Special Reading Experience

978-1-4244-9088-2/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE FITME2010

259
 EPB employs intelligent power management technology,
greatly decreasing energy consumption. Future's utilizing
solar energy will make possible endless reading. Electronic
ink technology makes EPB have no backlight, no radio, but all
view angles display, confirming reading experience special
but very similar with traditional paper book reading. See fig.
2.
C. Repeated Use and Environment Friendly.
EPB can be used almost endlessly repeatedly. Moreover it
is environment friendly, saving paper and decreasing
pollution.
Fig. 2 Hanvon EPB in displaying
III. PROBLEMS ANALYSIS
A. High Cost Makes the Price Suspended in the Air
E-paper display screen (e-ink technology) as the core
component of electronic paper occupies a large part of the
cost. Up to now there are only one or two manufacturers in the
world in this field. High cost finally determines that the
terminal products have no advantages in price. Guarantee in
convenience, comfort, and portability require continuous
R&D in advanced technology, adding cost significantly. Even
in 2009, the price of an electronic reader is over 1600 RMB
Yuan, higher than the average price of same period main
stream mobile phones.
B. Traditional Reading Habit is Difficult to be Changed
Although e-paper book manufacturer announced that e­
paper book has many advantages against traditional paper
book, the reading habit of people formed over thousands of
years would not be changed overnight. And compared with e­
paper book, traditional paper book has many advantages in
fostering reader's understanding on literature and reader's
perception capability. Through the thickness of paper, rustling
while turning the page and smell of printing ink, traditional
reading gives readers a special kind of feeling irreplaceable.
And some people have a kind of natural inherent feelings of
rejection to new advanced information technology including
e-paper. Thus traditional reading habit is very difficult to
change.
260
C. Lacking of Content Resources
Kindle of Amazon.com owns fruitful book resources since
Amazon.com is the biggest internet book store in the world.
But some other e-paper book manufacturers like Sony, iRex,
Jinke, Hanvon, etc lack sufficient book resources. Traditional
publishers and net literature websites don't care too much
about the meager profit in e-paper book market. And some
publishers worry about the pirate problem and dare not
provide the copyright. Thus manufacturers have to employ old
famous books such as "The Three Kingdoms" that need not to
pay royalty, which are not quite novel and original in content,
covering limited fields and very difficult to reach scale of
economy.
D. Business Model is not yet Mature
At present main manufacturers hope to take the terminal
reader as the start point and main power to drive the content
industry development. They bind the terminal with several
defined e-paper formats, finally binding consumers. When
users buy such e-paper readers, they only can read some e­
paper books with specific formats not compatible with other
e-paper books. Since the problem of compatibility must be
solved mutually by the content provider and the terminal
manufacturer, involving series of problems such as benefits
share and distribution, writer's authority and copyright
protection etc, the problem has been suspected for long
though it has been repeatedly raised. The chaos of e-paper
book standards in the world has been an important obstacle to
block the development of e-paper book.
E. Industrial Chain has not been Successfully Established
The content provider (CP) and the service provider (SP)
dispute over trifles, resulting in the uncertainty of profit
distribution model in the e-paper book market. Moreover
since the operation and payment platforms of e-paper book
market are not yet mature, and the domestic users don't quite
recognize and accept the pay-to-read model, the industrial
chain of e-paper book market has not yet constructed
successfully. Due to the rampancy of pirate phenomena,
publishers hesitate to take the risk to participate the market
comprehensively. On the other hand, since the e-paper book
market is experiencing a dawn period, the business model has
not been formed completely, so the publishers lack interest in
investment in it.
F. Facing Competition from Other E-reading Equipments
Currently users taking e-paper books as reading terminals
in the domestic is not over 2% of all e-book readers. Most e­
book readers use mobile phone, PSP, PC, MP4 etc equipments
to read. Especially mobile phone has apparently advantages in
price and easier access to the online content, though is not as
comfortable as e-paper book. According to statistics, in 2009,
sales volume of high class mobile phones supporting
download of e-books reached 295 million. This is very
detrimental to the development of e-paper book market.
IV. OPPORTUNITIES ANALYSIS
A. China's Publication Industry Grows Strongly Most e-readers still use mobile phone, PSP, PC, MP4 etc to
Although it is under the background of international read. Up to 2008 the production volume of mobile phone
monetary crisis, China's news and publication industry reading had been 30.3 million Yuan, 150 times more than that
presents a certain appearance of strong growth: GDP of news in 2002. Mobile phone reading market is still the dominant
and publication industry in 2009 broke 1000 billion Yuan, battle field of operating agencies.
increased by 20%, in which sales of books reached 78 billion,
B. Prices of Raw Materials Increase Rapidly.
increased by 20%, new media reached 75 billion, increased by
Scarce metals used in producing electronic products have
42%.
been increasing rapidly. Prices of IC and other e-components
The fact shows that China has been in the list of great
have also been growing. EPB producers are meeting challenge
powers in publication industry. China's digital publication
of cost increase.
industry has been the important power and new growing point
for China's news and publication industry. China's C. Mobile System Differences in Different Countries
consumption mass is growing rapidly, with increasing Varieties in mobile telecom systems in different countries
purchasing power for various kinds of media products. All would make people face difficulties when using EPB from
these factors have created important circumstances and one country to another due to content download problems.
conditions for development of the electronic paper books.
D. Download not Free due to Laws and Regulations
B. Operating Agencies Provide Industrial Chain Integration Laws and regulations in different countries are different.
Platform Almost all countries have regulations restricting content on
At the end of 2009, the TD electronic reader of Datang internet and other networks. Some countries are very strict on
Telecom had passed test of China Mobile and would be this aspect. This would make users feel not free when
promoted to market. This means after endeavor of more than downloading materials and hesitate to use EPB.
three months China Mobile has stepped into electronic paper
book market. future tactic
China Mobile is establishing net platform integrating
Strengths Problems
publication industry and internet websites, on which China
Functions; Capacity; Price; Reading habit;
Mobile will unite e-readers format of documents and decrease Exquisite; Low energy; Content; Business
Reading efficiency; model; Industrial chain;
fees of wireless downloading. In the meantime China Telecom producer Protect environment Competition users
is also forging its e-reader platform which will emerge in
November this year. Opportunities Challenges
Mobile telephone; Price
High speed mobile telecom network lets users quickly Publication industry; of materials; Mobile
download books they like anywhere and anytime. New book Operating agencies system varieties; Law
and regulation
materials will be automatically transmitted to users e-paper
SPOC a alysis
books. This greatly strengthens customers reading
experiences, attracting more and more users select special e­ Fig. 3 SPOC analysis system
readers, bringing great changes for the reading industry.
The joint of operation merchants will undoubtedly provide
VI. CONCLUSION
Hanvon, Jinke such terminal producers strong technical
support. Application of 3G network can explore new functions Electronic paper book must have brought a brand new era
of e- paper readers and can create new mobile users with for portable electronic reading market. It is undoubted that
demand of reading. So the strategic alliance is a win-win EPB is a prosperous industry, though the integration of the
strategy. More over the operation enterprises are most suitable industrial chain still needs time. This new phenomena
to integrate the industrial chain. First, China Mobile is very represents advanced technical innovation. There are a lot of
familiar with mobile payment systems. Second, terminal strengths and opportunities in this industry, as well as some
producers only need to bind SIM card in the e-paper books, problems and challenges it faces. Enterprises should promote
then pay-to-read problem is solved through cell phone strengths and advantages, grasp opportunities, find solutions
payment system. Third, both publication industry and e-paper to solve problems and predict and overcome the challenges
terminal producers hope to enlarge their influencing power they meet.
through mobile operational platform. Government should encourage operating agencies to play
roles in integrating the industrial chain and establish policies
V. CHALLENGES ANALYSIS
to promote the development of EPB industry. Manufacturers
A. Mobile Telephone and Free Software should set up strategic alliances with publishers and
EPB is connected with the networks of China Mobile or concerning companies who can provide contents. Enterprises
China Telecom without exclusivity since there are billions of should probe into the market to find business models which
mobile phones including 3Gs in the network. benefit all stakeholders. They should invest more in public
Currently in China the figure of users who use EPB as communications to promote the product fames and to inform
reading terminals are not more than 1% of overall e-readers. public consumers the product benefits. Some companies such

261
as Hanvon have been making efforts to advertise their
products on big media. In the very soon future, there must
appear high tech EPBs that are thinner, lighter, more
convenient to operate, more energy saving and more
environment friendly.

REFERENCES

[1) An-Hsiang Wang, Chih-Chen Tseng, Shie-Chang Jeng, "Effects of

bending curvature and text/background color-combinations of e-paper on
subjects' visual performance and subjective preferences under various
ambient illuminance conditions", Displays, vo1.28, pp. 161-166, June
2007.
(2) Shi Lifeng, "Electronic paper book: function analysis and future prospect",
Chinese journalist, no. 3, pp. 90-91, March 2010.
(3) Ji Kaixiang, "Analysis of the Electric Paper Books and the Prospects for
Development", Journal oj Shandong Electric Power, vol. 12, no. 5, pp.
45-47.
(4) GUO Xiaoqianl ,Ll Zheying, "Design of the E-Book", Journal oj Beijing
Union University(Natural Sciences), vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 53-56, Sep. 2007.
(5) Jin Hongya, Zhou Deming, "Development of e-book reader influence on
library circulation", Library Journal, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 3 0-32, April 2010.

262