E Ink Holdings, the global leader in electronic paper technology, held its annual shareholder meeting on May 28, with all proposals passed smoothly. Chairman Johnson Lee expressed optimism about the company's trajectory, noting that despite ongoing global trade tensions, the performance from January to April suggests 2025 is shaping up to be a strong year.
Lee declared 2025 as a defining milestone for the company—the official start of what he called the first year of large-format e-paper. Since its founding in 1992, E Ink has focused on small-format displays. Now, for the first time, it is moving into a large-sized e-paper, a strategic shift that brings new challenges in quality standards, production scale, and a wholesale transformation in market positioning.
If E Ink can successfully pioneer the large-format e-paper market, it will significantly boost both revenue and profitability, Lee noted.
Broadening horizons while deepening core strengths
While expanding into large formats, E Ink will continue strengthening its mid-size e-paper business, which remains the company's operational bedrock. Efforts will focus on enhancing display speed and color performance for eReaders and digital notepads, while simultaneously improving cost competitiveness to match LCD panels.
In the ESL segment, E Ink is not only introducing higher-quality products but also refining its cost structures. Lee emphasized that lowering the total cost of ownership (TCO) for retail customers is critical to driving broader global adoption.
Most of the world's leading display companies have built dominance on large-format products, Lee said. E Ink is now aligning in that direction, expanding our e-paper ecosystem and accelerating applications in reading, education, retail, signage, transportation, and logistics, all while anchoring our strategy in sustainability.
Record revenues despite a challenging global climate
Chief Financial Officer Lloyd Chen acknowledged the global economic uncertainties of 2024, shaped by geopolitical tensions, shifting trade policies, supply chain restructuring, and extreme weather. Despite these headwinds, E Ink achieved record financial results: consolidated revenue of NT$32.16 billion (approx. US$1.07 billion), an operating margin of 23.7%, and post-tax profit of NT$8.87 billion—setting historical highs for the company's core e-paper business.
On the consumer electronics front, 2024 saw stable growth. Full-color e-paper has entered mass production, with integration into a growing number of eReader and eNote brands. The shift is also fueling a new wave of product upgrades, particularly in large-format and color-enhanced devices, responding to evolving consumer demand.
In the IoT space, ESLs have successfully undergone technology transitions. Though the first half of 2024 was affected by inventory corrections, the market recovered in the second half. E Ink's innovations, including the color-shifting E Ink Prism and large-format signage, have entered new use cases in retail and advertising—underscoring the wide application potential of its technologies.
Advancing sustainability through innovation
Sustainability remains a cornerstone of E Ink's strategy. In 2024, 99% of its revenue was classified as green revenue by FTSE Russell, and Moody's awarded it an SQS2 rating for sustainability quality. The company also reached its renewable energy goal of RE58, with 58% of global power use from renewables. All non-Taiwan operations have already achieved RE100. For 2025, the company is raising its goal to RE65, continuing its path toward RE100 by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2040.
2025: the year of large-format color e-paper
Looking ahead, 2025 will mark the company's full entry into the large-format color e-paper market. The transition is more than just a change in display size—it represents a complete upgrade in product strategy, market thinking, and operational approach. E Ink aims to integrate advanced specifications, market strategies, and manufacturing processes into a cohesive push for dominance in large-scale applications.
E Ink believes that through sustained innovation and deep ecosystem collaboration, large-format color e-paper will become a major growth driver. At the same time, its mid-size products will remain a foundation for stable operations, with continued improvements in cost-efficiency and performance. ESLs, too, will accelerate global adoption through improved quality and reduced ownership costs.
Innovation and sustainability go hand in hand, Lee said. E Ink is building the future of displays—bigger, greener, and smarter.
Article edited by Jack Wu
