Plastic Logic up for sale even though its QUE proReader isn't? (Updated: Investor confirms neither are for sale)
By Thomas Ricker 
posted April 6th 2010 6:42AM
posted April 6th 2010 6:42AM
While you can't buy a QUE proReader until summer it seems that you can buy the company. Well, maybe not you but someone with a few hundred million in the bank. At least that's the way the Financial Times is framing a piece focused on UK investor Hermann Hauser, whose venture capital firm has a stake in Plastic Logic. According to Hauser, "We're in very interesting negotiations with ... well, that would be a separate interview, you will hopefully hear [more] about this in the autumn." Why would anybody want to buy this offshoot from the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory? After all, dedicated monochrome E-Ink devices are on their last legs, right? Chips made from plastic, not silicon, that's why -- intellectual property that could revolutionize integrated circuits and the entire computing industry. For the moment, however, Plastic Logic is only manufacturing the simple plastic transistors found inside its QUE proReader display that switch each pixel on or off -- a far cry from PCBs loaded with plastic integrated circuits. And as the FT acknowledges, any potential buyer might end up with an e-reader company and nothing more. Not exactly where you want to be at the dawn of the second coming of tablet computers.
Updated: We heard from Plastic Logic investor Hermann Hauser who firmly says the company is not for sale. Apparently his comments were taken out of context. That still doesn't answer our question of when we will be able to get our hands on a QUE proReader.
[Thanks, Charlie]
And who would want to bet against Hermann? (The man who invested into a little Cambridge company that later spat out a quirky little IP company called ARM)
@Sheldon
gonna ask him about this on thursday, he's giving a talk... lol
So it's e-ink and the screen reflects so much (* picture above)?
I'd buy it!
" After all, dedicated monochrome E-Ink devices are on their last legs......
at the dawn of the second coming of tablet computers."
seriously?!
atleast for the foreseeable future, dedicated e-ink based readers are here to stay..
@doobster
I tend to think that is a serious statement. This really does rather depend on the success of the iPad at the moment, pending real competition to it, but if the device is indeed comfortable to read then I don't really see the attraction in a dedicated eBook reader if it can't do things like get my email or browse the Web. I don't think that it will be necessary for competing devices to do more than the iPad but they either need to be able to do these common tasks in colour, or cost utter peanuts.
Mind you, if the iPad does crash and burn in the market then I suppose monochrome e-ink technology can march on regardless.
@doobster Exactly. The amount of stupid in the post is astounding.
@doobster
It would seem that none of you actually know what monochrome means.
@cherryboom
Feel free to highlight why I am wrong. I won't hold it against you and I am prepared to listen, and be swayed by, a well thought out response that makes logical sense. Why would I, Joe Bloggs consumer, choose to buy something like a Kindle over something like an iPad?
@mrtatertot Very nice point you made there, but I think it went unnoticed... the same way as in the article ;)
@Kelmon I don't know what will happen to the Kindle, but I do think that if they can lower the price to 50-100 they will get all the hardcore readers to chose both options. Hardcore readers are the ones that buy at least 8 books a year, and they account for the far majority of e-book sales, so a lot depends on what happens to the mainstream consumers e-book purchase rate. Will it grow above 1 per year? Then, that can put the i-ink on the ropes, if it can't then the money will still be in e-ink, but they will have to be shipped as loss leaders from Amazon, B&N and Boarders. But that's just my hypothesis.
@juanvaldez
I would agree that a much lower price would give monochrome eInk a longer lifespan but, assuming that the review verdicts that the iPad screen is quite comfortable to read are genuine, I can't see why you would buy both devices. A dedicated reader makes sense at a low price if that is all you can spend but if you can run to something like an iPad then the extra functionality would surely benefit everyone. I think that will be the key. How much cheaper must eInk devices become and how much do potential eBook reader buyers value being able to do extra tasks like read email?
@mrtatertot
yes I do know what monochrome means.. again, I don't think the end of *monochrome* e-ink readers are near.
they would just get cheaper and cheaper - wouldn't it be awesome if they hand out e-inks at school ? I think that's going to happen eventually.
@doobster
Sure. But have you seen the prices from this company? They are beyond ridiculous.
E-ink is great for those who read for long periods at a time. The Kindle is extremely light and comfortable when laying down on a bed or sofa.
If you like reading, the Kindle is the way to go. However, if you are like most Americans, then a tablet like the iPad will be more suitable for those of us with short attention spans. There's actually a company (Notion Ink) that wants to come out with a tablet that offers an LCD display that can be switched to an e-ink-like display using a Pixel Qi screen. Could be vaporware but there will be other tablets to watch anyway. Shelling out $500 for something without a camera seems a bit premature.
In my opinion, both are overpriced for what they do. (Don't forget you also have to buy those expensive apps for the iPad) By the end of 2010, we should see a much wider market of tablets. That's when I'll be doing my comparison shopping.
Disclaimer: Your investment may go down as well as up.
@Kelmon Isn't that true for any investment? :)
@Atkins
Indeed so but this seem to be something that is often forgotten.
As if millions of unborn e-readers cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced...
Here comes Apple with its $40 billion in cash on hand...
@TonyRockyHorror ... to rescue us from the overpriced sixteen levels of grey.
@Atkins As long as it isn't to patent whore, ok.
@juanvaldez :)
@Atkins It's like the article says, it's not about the display tech itself. It's about the underlying platisc semiconductor tech. I predict a bidding war.
I always knew Plastic Logic was more hype and vaporware than "revolution", as they've been boasting for the past 3 years, at least in the e-reader department. Yes, they finally put out one product, but no, it won't be revolutionizing anything.
@darex I was just thinking the same! I mean, I was waiting like forever for the reader for reading scientific material and now... hey... there's the iPad and other stuff! And at $650 it's cheaper to buy the iPad with all the apps for whatever word and powerpoint capabilities.
Personally, I'm angry with the Que. If it came out a year before I would've bought it without any regret, now that there are like 5 better products to come AND cheaper... I really don't see the Que revolution coming. Specially with battery lifetimes beyond 8 h (= normal working schedule). If it was $50 cheaper than the iPad or even the same price... I would buy it... but... that price is a killer. For both, the reader and the company.
As I hoped to impart when I sent the tip in - The important part of this article is that PL has actually made a PLASTIC integrated circuit now along with actively producing the transistors. That is huge. Also that Mr. Hauser is considering selling means he thinks it is a mature business and he can move on to helping a new one get started.
The reason for the Que delay is not PL but getting the e-ink material. Production of that by PVI is still not up to handling the volumes that companies are asking for.