Plastic Logic

Plastic Logic Germany develops and manufactures <a href="/facts/Electronic_paper/b3JWSLz9">electrophoretic displays</a> (EPD), based on organic <a href="/facts/Thin-film_transistor/rhe3Y936">thin-film transistor</a> (<a href="/facts/OTFT/s3aW8gSa">OTFT</a>) technology, in Dresden, Germany.
Originally a <a href="/facts/University_spin-off/HE9lspIj">spin-off company</a> from the <a href="/facts/Cavendish_Laboratory/nh4qJsWs">Cavendish Laboratory</a> at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Cambridge/0la7aX9o">University of Cambridge</a>, the company was founded in 2000 by <a href="/facts/Richard_Friend/WhnY6PFg">Richard Friend</a>, <a href="/facts/Henning_Sirringhaus/9NB7B6E8">Henning Sirringhaus</a> and Stuart Evans and specialised in polymer transistors and <a href="/facts/Plastic_electronics/FCPAEwx3">plastic electronics</a>.
In February 2015, the company announced that the technology development and manufacturing parts of Plastic Logic would be separated and would go forward as independent companies, in order to generate focus while addressing a range of opportunities available in identified markets. The manufacturing plant in Dresden, Germany, which develops, manufactures and sells a range of flexible EPD, operates independently under the name Plastic Logic Germany.

Plastic Logic opened the first mini-fabrication plant on November 11, 2003 in <a href="/facts/Cambridge/gNRdbmwK">Cambridge</a>, <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">UK</a>.
A factory for the mass-production of the display units was opened on September 17, 2008 in <a href="/facts/Dresden/nKVXxIgq">Dresden</a>, Germany.
Plastic Logic announced its first plastic screen device on November 30, 2004, to be used by <a href="/facts/Siemens_Communications/mvnTd64p">Siemens Communications</a> in their mobile devices. This was followed by the announcement of an <a href="/facts/E-book/yrBWpU8E">ereader</a> called the QUE proReader. However, by August 2010, they had cancelled the QUE proReader. In September 2011 the company announced Plastic Logic 100 aimed to bring e-textbooks to Russian schools.
In January 2011 the company received $280m in venture capital: $230m into the equity of Plastic Logic from <a href="/facts/Rusnano/dfRDVcVL">Rusnano</a> and $50m from Oak Investment Partners, a multi-stage venture capital firm. In May 2012 Plastic Logic revealed a ‘Plastic Inside’ strategy – selling its plastic back-planes, sensors and tags for customers to incorporate into other products.
On May 17, 2012, Plastic Logic announced that they were abandoning plans to manufacture their own e-reader devices (focusing instead on licensing their existing technology), shutting down their US office in Mountain View, California, and reducing staff elsewhere.
In July 2012, Plastic Logic demonstrated a flexible display that was 130 <a href="/facts/%CE%9Cm/7eDFxD2L">μm</a> thick, as well as the first flexible plastic display that can play colour video animation content at 12 <a href="/facts/Frames_per_second/sbRkc9xa">frames per second</a> (14 fps in black and white), driven by <a href="/facts/OTFT/s3aW8gSa">OTFTs</a> (organic thin film transistors).
Plastic Logic also demonstrated several product concepts including an ultra-thin e-paper companion device for a smartphone. The 10.7” <a href="/facts/Touchscreen/zpSKDFpe">touchscreen</a> pane for viewing of webpages and documents was designed for easier reading of content than on the screen of a smartphone.
<a href="/facts/BBC/qFateIz8">BBC</a> <a href="/facts/Click_(TV_programme)/MGKSR8YI">Click</a> featured Plastic Logic's technology in a report on "going paperless" in July 2012.

Plastic Logic open-in-new

Plastic Logic