Report: Samsung seeks sale of Liquavista to Amazon
updated 12:53 pm EDT, Fri March 22, 2013
Acquisition in 2011 failed to meet Samsung expectations
Samsung is looking to sell Liquavista to Amazon, and are currently in private discussions with the online retailer, according to a report. The electronics manufacturer is said to want the sale of the Dutch company, a maker of e-reader display technology, after the acquisition in 2011 "didn't meet its expectations."
Liquavista specializes in electrowetting, a technique that allows e-paper to have a performance that is close to an LCD. Refreshing 70-times faster than normal e-paper systems, it can also play color video and offer twice the light transmittance of an LCD at a tenth of the power requirements. Such a technology would be useful for Amazon, considering its best-selling line of Kindle e-book readers.
Sources of Bloomberg claim that the sale could be for less than $100 million, though it is not clear how far into discussions the two companies are, and if they are close to a final price.
