Prime View International, a Taiwanese display provider, is part owner of Netronix, which has six e-reading devices available and, despite its relative obscurity among the Kindle-centric, has been a force in e-reading for a lot longer than Amazon. Oh, and not only that, but PVI itself manufactures both the Kindle and Sony's Reader.
It may not be Netronix, however, that makes PVI a bigwig in the land of e-books. The company this week bought E-Ink, the Cambridge, Mass.-based electronic paper display (EPD) manufacturer that provides technology to most e-readers out there, including Kindle.
Kindle Threat: Depends. As Kindle and the e-book market grow, so does E-Ink and, well, whoever owns E-Ink's 100 or so electrophoretic patents, so at this point, PVI would seem to be more of a friend to Amazon than a foe. But when Netronix gets cracking on its next e-reader, PVI has the go-to company for e-book displays in its trickbag as well, which gives it a big advantage.
