Plastic Logic QUE axed after delays

Plastic Logic today decided to drop its originally planned QUE ProReader altogether. The e-paper firm said it would instead focus on a new generation version of the QUE. The market has "dramatically changed" since the QUE was made public in January and needs a reader that reflects it, chief executive Richard Archuleta explained.

The CEO tried to assuage fears of business trouble by asserting that Plastic Logic's investors were committed to "long-term success" and wouldn't cut funding short. He didn't comment on talk of a Russian investment to help keep it afloat.

Many of the company's plans have gone awry since it first showed the QUE at CES, including multiple delays associated with refining its quality. The seven months of delays have effectively killed its competitiveness as originally advertised. While it would have had a letter-sized, e-paper touchscreen, a starting price of $649 for a 4GB Wi-Fi version immediately hurt its chances versus the Apple iPad unveiled just three weeks after CES. Since then, the iPad has had very strong sales where the most direct competition for the QUE, the Kindle DX, has dropped to $379 while preserving 3G.

Some of Plastic Logic's hopes are pinned on both its namesake electronics, which could produce a thinner but also "more robust" reader than the now-dead QUE, as well as the prospect of color e-readers in 2012.

By Electronista Staff