Digital Book Readers: e-readers guide and review

Two significant e-book reader producers have announced about establishing a new company.

LGD signed an agreement with iRiver to establish a joint venture (JV) named L&I Electronic Technology (Dongguan) Limited in Dongguan, Guangdong Province in China to reinforce its presence in the fast-growing global e-book reader market. LGD and iRiver will make equity investments of 51% and 49% respectively for initial capital of US$5 million.

The start of production will begin in September 2010 at iRiver’s existing e-book reader plant in Dongguan. The new company is planning to reach one million units in annual production by 2011. Furthermore, production may be expanded to include new applications such as e-Textbooks and e-Newspapers.

Through the JV with iRiver, LGD will be able to further expand its customer base by securing a stable and long-term EPD customer.

According to market researcher DisplaySearch, the e-book reader market is expected to reach from an estimated US$350 million in 2009 to hit US$1.2 billion in 2011 and US$1.73 billion in 2015.