A major Asian toy manufacturer has ordered the newly developed Thinfilm Memory Controller.
Thin Film Electronics ASA ("Thinfilm") has received and accepted an order from a major Asian toy manufacturer. This pre-production order includes samples of the Thinfilm Memory Controller, as well as Thinfilm MemoryTM tags. Revenues from the contract in Q4 2010 will not be significant.
By storing user and game flow information, Thinfilm Memory enables evolution of characters and skill levels, and makes cards and toys 'intelligent'. Information is written and read by a reader/writer built into the game, or available as a separate hand-held device. A central component of the reader is the Thinfilm Memory Controller, a low cost application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).
Fully printed systems and devices have an absolute cost advantage compared to conventional electronics, such as flash and EEPROM. The manufacturing process is substantially cheaper, and material costs are typically lower. Thinfilm is significantly more cost effective on a system level - the total cost of memories plus the reader/writer electronics - when the number of memories to be read is more than a couple.
"Our new Memory Controller allows toy manufacturers to design smaller and less expensive reader/writer units. We believe it will accelerate market launch of smart toys powered by Thinfilm," says Davor Sutija, Thinfilm CEO.
For further information, please contact:
Geir Harald Aase, VP Communications: +47 480 37 571/geir.aase(at)thinfilm.no
About Thinfilm and Printed Electronics
Thin Film Electronics ASA ("Thinfilm") is a publicly-listed Norwegian technology company with its head office in Oslo and product development in Linköping, Sweden. Thinfilm is a pioneer in the field of Printed Electronics, and provides fully-printed non-volatile, rewritable memory for applications in toys & games, logistics, sensor, and ID systems.
The Printed Electronics market is still in its early stages, and according to industry analyst group IDTechEx, is expected to grow to more than USD 50 billion in market value over the next ten years. IDTechEx predicts that logic (i.e., memory and transistors) will be the largest segment in this market.
Using printing to manufacture electronic memory makes it possible to reduce the number of process steps, dramatically reduce manufacturing costs, as well as the environmental impact as compared to traditional semiconductor processes. Commercial applications of printed electronics include e-paper, electronic readers, and organic light emitting (OLED) displays. Sensors, batteries, and photovoltaic energy sources are also in development, and together with Thinfilm's memory technology they will open the door to new products and applications.
Memory is an essential part of most electronics. Memory is required for identification, tracking status and history, and is used whenever information is stored. Thinfilm's non-volatile ferroelectric polymer memory technology is well suited for application with other printed electronics devices because power consumption during read and write is negligible, and as it is permanent, no connection to external power is required for data detainment. Also, the current required to write information is so small that operation would be limited by the battery's lifetime and not its capacity.