Iriver enlists LG to show the way

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS FIRM LG Display has enlisted the help of Iriver to design its ebook readers.

The tie-up will see LG funnel $5 million into Iriver's Chinese factory in a bid to make it an original development manufacturer (ODM) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

LG Display's part in this will be to provide a "stable supply" of electronic paper displays (EPDs) to slip into the e-reader devices. Iriver has been penciled in as its first customer for EPDs.

LG isn't doing too badly as it supplies Apple with screens for the Ipad, however having another customer under its belt is never a bad thing. LG is also hoping to become the world's number one supplier of EPDs by 2012. The displays are seen to be a far more conducive to reading books than TFT screens such as that on the Ipad.

Iriver is best known for its swanky MP3 players that had high-end features long before its competitors. However it failed to keep up with other shiny devices and will be hoping that ebooks enable its sales to rebound after years of less than stellar performance.

Neither firm announced when the fruits of their e-reader collaboration will be released. µ