Huawei ink level board MatePad Paper
Recently, Huawei launched its first electronic paper tablet (instant ink horizontal board) at the spring conference just held - MatePad Paper. At the same time, the Kindle, an e-reading artifact that was once popular around the world, has gradually faded out of the Chinese market.
The advance and retreat of the two consumer electronics giants have aroused strong concern in the industry about the electronic paper and tablet market. Industry analysts said in an interview with The China Electronic News reporter that the electronic paper tablet or will become the most potential electronic paper terminal.
The "reading artifact" faded out of the Chinese market
Electronic paper (E-paper), also known as "electronic ink screen", has a paper-like display effect. When it comes to electronic paper products, the most impressive thing is the Kindle. With distinctive features such as eye protection, energy saving, and green, the Kindle has become a highly sought after reading artifact around the world.
However, about the Kindle, in recent years, there is a saying: "Half cover the noodles, half hang idle fish."
The above statement is of course only a joke, but it reflects the fact that the Kindle has a high vacancy rate. Nowadays, the second-hand idle trading APP "Idle Fish" has become the main circulation platform of the domestic second-hand Kindle. In December last year, Idle Fish released a mine-sweeping inventory, in which the Kindle was selected as one of the "Top Ten Useless Goods" in 2021, described as "a relatively expensive instant noodle peripheral".
In early January 2022, the term "Kindle or withdraw from the Chinese market" appeared on Weibo's hot search. At that time, in the Kindle Jingdong self-operated store, the Kindle product showed a large area of shortage, and the current Kindle's official sales channel only has the Jingdong self-operated store, so this is regarded by the outside world as a signal for Amazon's e-book business to withdraw from the Chinese market.
However, Amazon China then made a slightly "vague" response to this: "We are committed to serving Chinese consumers. Consumers can purchase Kindle devices through third-party online and offline retailers. The Kindle e-book reader is popular with consumers, and some models are currently sold out in the Chinese market. ”
The reporter's investigation found that as of March 20, in the Kindle Jingdong self-operated flagship store, various models of Kindle e-reader products were all displayed as "out of stock". The matter of "Kindle's withdrawal from the Chinese market" is not unfounded, after Amazon China insiders revealed that the company's Kindle hardware team was abolished in November 2021, and China will no longer have a Kindle electronic device business.
Less than 9 years after entering the Chinese market, Kindle "retired". According to the data, the e-reader Kindle, designed and sold by Amazon, its first generation of products was released in 2007. In 2013, the Kindle entered the Chinese market, and by the end of 2016, China had become Amazon's largest market for global Kindle device sales. But in April 2019, Amazon announced that its main e-commerce business was withdrawing from the Chinese market, retaining only a few businesses in China, including Kindle e-books. Entering 2022, the Kindle reader has disappeared from China's official sales channels.
The "abdication" of the Kindle in the Chinese market has ushered in new variables in the e-reader market. In the e-reading market, Chinese manufacturers do not lack resources in hardware, software, and reading ecology, but at present, most domestic readers are still slightly inferior to The Kindle, and there has not yet been an eye-catching "dark horse".
The staff of a domestic digital reading platform said that domestic e-readers should highlight the siege, seize the Market of kindle, and "make up lessons" in content and brand construction, with brand power, there is user support, and only in the face of terminal channels can they have bargaining power.
Huawei's "ambitions" go beyond e-reading
Just when the Kindle faded out of the Chinese market, a "dark horse" began to break into the field of electronic paper. On March 16, Huawei released an electronic paper tablet, the MatePad Paper, at the spring press conference. In fact, Huawei's entry into the field of electronic ink screens can be described as "drunkards do not want to drink", and Huawei's "ambitions" are not limited to the road that Kindle has already traveled.
So, what is the special thing about this Huawei version of the electronic paper tablet that has attracted market attention?
It is understood that MatePad Paper is Huawei's first tablet with an ink screen. Its biggest highlight is that it is equipped with a 10.3-inch ink screen, the screen resolution is 1872X1404, and the screen ratio has reached 86.3%. It is worth mentioning that the electronic paper tablet has passed the German Rheinland T V paper display certification, and thus became the world's first terminal product to obtain paper-like display certification. In addition, this electronic paper tablet is equipped with a reading light, supports 32 levels of brightness adjustment and intelligent refresh technology, can adapt to a variety of reading scenarios, and also supports handwriting/speech-to-text, document signing, split-screen notes and other functions.
According to RUNTO, the screen of Huawei's electronic paper tablet adopts the E ink 10.3-inch black and white electronic paper screen module supplied by Yuantai Technology, which is manufactured by Huizhou Guanghong Technology. Limited by upstream capacity, the supply of starter products is extremely limited. According to the Jingdong Mall, less than 1,000 units were booked and declared out of stock.
In fact, Huawei does not use the MatePad Paper as an ordinary e-reader, but positions it as a smart office product.
"Unlike kindle, Huawei's e-paper tablet can realize cross-device interconnection, such as interconnection with Huawei's smartphones, laptops and other PCs, complete the two-way transmission of related documents, and use it for business office, and Huawei also defines the light office attribute of the product." Liu Tun, senior analyst of CCID Consulting, told the China Electronics News reporter.
It is worth noting that Huawei's electronic paper tablet is equipped with HarmonyOS2.0 Hongmeng system, which further improves the adaptability of soft and hard combinations. The opening of related interfaces can enable developers to adapt more exclusive applications for electronic paper tablet products. In addition, the HarmonyOS 2 operating system supports cross-terminal circulation interconnection, and the same account can realize Huawei reading across terminals between mobile phones, tablets, and e-paper tablets. In addition, Huawei is also equipped with a stylus, allowing users to restore the real paper-sensitive writing experience to the greatest extent in daily writing or office.
"The launch of Huawei's electronic paper tablet will play an important role in promoting the application of smart office." Liu Tun told reporters that the larger size, higher screen ratio, as well as Huawei's own ecological integration, and the main positioning of the product, all show that this electronic paper tablet has broad prospects in the field of smart office in the future.
The size of the large-size electronic paper market is expected to rise
At present, the application terminals of electronic paper are mainly commercial products such as electronic labels and advertising signs, and the application of consumer electronic products accounts for a relatively small proportion. In the consumer category, e-paper tablets are an important subdivision scenario.
"As one of the leading manufacturers of Consumer Electronics brands in China, Huawei's addition will play a significant role in promoting the application market size of large-size electronic paper at the consumer end." Li Yueheng, a senior analyst at RUNTO Technology (RUNTO), told The China Electronics News that from the perspective of the impact on the market, Huawei' integration and innovation of multiple dimensions of mature technologies such as chips, Hongmeng systems, and stylus is very likely to greatly enhance the interactive experience of electronic paper tablets, thereby promoting the public's awareness of electronic paper tablets, and ultimately further driving the resource investment of the upstream and downstream supply chains, and pushing up the overall market capacity with excellent products and sufficient competition.
Huawei is not the first manufacturer to launch an electronic paper tablet product. Previously, iFLYTEK, Guoyue, Bigme, Sony and other terminal manufacturers have released large-screen electronic paper tablet products.
In the past few years, with the shrinking reader market, large-size electronic paper flat terminals have shown a downward trend every year. However, with the targeted efforts of various manufacturers in software optimization, color ink screens, Android open system applications, etc., the scalability of electronic paper tablets has been greatly improved, so that the shipments of electronic paper tablets have begun to pick up, and the product heat is also warming up.
According to RUNTO data, global shipments of electronic paper tablets will be about 13 million units in 2021 and 15 million units in 2022, with a growth rate of more than 15%.
"With the continuous development and maturity of color electronic paper modules and chip ICs, the functionality of electronic paper tablet products based on the Android system has been no less than that of ordinary LCD tablets, and at the same time has the unique advantages of energy saving and eye protection of electronic paper and ink screens." Li Yueheng told reporters, "Electronic paper tablets will become the most potential electronic paper terminals. ”
The next few years will be a critical period for the development of the ecological chain of the electronic paper industry and the full outbreak of scene applications, and Huawei's entry will undoubtedly play an important catalytic and promoting role. Dong Min, deputy secretary-general of the China Electronic Video Industry Association, pointed out in an interview with the China Electronic News reporter that from the perspective of upstream production capacity supply in 2022, the development rhythm of participating enterprises and product innovation, starting from this year, the electronic paper industry will usher in a rapid development cycle.