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E Ink (8069 TT — US$6.6 billion) is a global monopoly in the production of e-paper display panels, used in the Amazon Kindle and electronic shelf labels.
The company is based in Taiwan, but it got its start as a spin-off from MIT Media Lab in the late 1990s. At MIT, a professor called Joe Jacobsson had the idea of creating a single physical book that could change its content through the push of a button.
Determined to find a solution, he recruited two undergraduates to create a screen that felt like normal paper. The technology they developed used electricity to move ink particles across the screen. They put the ink in microcapsules, with black and white colors having different electric charges. When electricity was applied to a single pixel, the black ink would rise to the surface, forming readable text.
The benefit of this new technology is that once the particles had moved, they would stay put. And that meant that the text would remain on the screen even when the device is powered off. This property has enabled e-paper devices such as the Amazon Kindle to achieve incredible battery life, sometimes lasting for months. And since e-paper only reflects light rather than emits it, the screen is also easy on the eyes with great outdoor visibility.
In 2009, Joe Jacobsson's company was acquired by Prime View International, a display technology subsidiary of Taiwanese paper manufacturer called Yuen Foong Yu Group (YFY). The controlling shareholder, "SC Ho", saw the potential of e-paper and bet big on it. After the acquisition, Prime View changed its name to "E Ink Holdings" and eventually shifted its entire focus to e-paper.
Since 2024, E Ink has been run by SC Ho's son-in-law, Johnson Lee. While nepotism is usually a risk factor, Johnson has done an amazing job at growing the business. Under his leadership, E Ink's operating margins have gone from zero to 33%, while continuing to innovate technologically.
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