Plastic Logic Announces New Strategy to Expand Market Reach

Plastic Logic announced its new business strategy. Plastic Logic will move from being a fully vertically integrated rigid e-reader product company to one that develops, manufactures, markets and sells its unique flexible plastic display technology. This will enable the company to move beyond the e-reader market into a variety of new markets and applications, driven by flexible display solutions. The company will also explore non-display applications.

Building upon its track record of IP development, Plastic Logic has achieved many technological milestones, including:
• Fully industrializing the mass production of ultra-thin (paper-like), ultra lightweight, high quality rugged plastic 10.7” displays in the world’s first volume organic electronics factory.
• Achieving yields comparable to the LCD industry in only a few years.
• Ability to make both color as well as monochrome displays with proven lifetimes of over five years and more than 10 million page updates.
• The demonstration of video animation on a plastic flexible display.

Plastic Logic’s change in strategy follows a comprehensive strategic review of the business by Plastic Logic CEO Indro Mukerjee, working with major investors, Oak Investment Partners and Rusnano. As a result, Plastic Logic will cease its e-reader product development activities and focus on other applications for its flexible plastic displays. The company will actively develop licensing and technology partnerships to exploit its e-reader related capabilities in terms of rugged, plastic displays as well as driver and viewing optimisation software.

With this strategy, Plastic Logic will take advantage of its unique technology across a number of applications and markets. These include paper replacement, rugged displays, and an extensive range of other uses that incorporate flexible plastic electronics technology for both large and small display and non-display solutions. The company will leverage its R&D and manufacturing resources to enter multiple new markets through partnerships, OEMs, system integrators, and device manufacturers.

Several third parties and device manufacturers have approached Plastic Logic in an effort to utilize its flexible display technology. Discussions with these potential partners, including technology licensing, are developing and further announcements will be made at the appropriate time.

“Plastic Logic has always been at its core a dynamic technology company.,” Mukerjee said. “Having recently achieved significant milestones, including being the first in the world to fully industrialise the mass production of flexible plastic displays, we are now well positioned to address a broader set of applications and markets throughout the world. Our proprietary technology will drive our future growth potential and so we are aligning our people and resources to generate new opportunities for our technology which will both accelerate value creation, and advance the plastic electronics industry as a whole.”

Plastic Logic will continue to operate its world class R&D centre in Cambridge and scalable manufacturing capability in Dresden; the company will close its U.S. development facility as a result of the new strategy. Additionally, a centre of excellence for plastic electronics R&D will be developed in Russia.

Following the recent technology open day in Moscow, Plastic Logic will be holding further technology open days at its Cambridge R&D and Dresden manufacturing sites over the coming months.