Qualcomm Gets A Fourth Mirasol Device: Taiwan's Koobe Jin Yong E-Reader

Early this year, Qualcomm broadened the audience for its mirasol display technology by announcing a new, mirasol-equipped e-reader from Taiwanese company Koobe. The Koobe device, known as the Jin Yong Reader, is the fourth mirasol e-reader to be announced in the past 10 weeks. The rapid adoption indicates increased interest in a technology Qualcomm has spent years developing.

The Jin Yong Reader joins the C18 from China’s Hanvon, the Bambook Sunflower from China’s Shanda Networking Co. and the Kyobo eReader from South Korea’s Kyobo Book Centre. The four companies have been able to bring out e-readers in quick succession because most of them utilize the same base hardware. The Hanvon C18 is an exception; with a thickness of 10 mm and weight of 300 grams it is thinner and lighter than the others, including the new Jin Yong Reader.

The Jin Yong Reader is almost identical in design to the Kyobo eReader, but stands out as the first mirasol e-reader for the Taiwanese market. Qualcomm is currently pouring a reported $1 billion into a mirasol manufacturing facility in Taiwan. Once that “fab” comes online in late 2012, Qualcomm hopes other tech companies will take up the technology for phones, tablets and other devices. Having a mirasol device on sale in Taiwan, where many computing components are made and gadgets are designed, could help popularize the technology.

San Diego-based Qualcomm has been refining mirasol since acquiring the technology from a startup in 2004. Mirasol displays eliminate the need for backlights by reflecting light between two conductive plates. Qualcomm says the setup enables bright colors in direct sunlight, weeks-long battery life and an image refresh rate fast enough to support video.

The combination is key because for years e-readers could not offer color and interactivity without negatively affecting outdoor visibility and battery life. Qualcomm generates most of its revenues from licensing mobile technology and selling mobile chips to other companies but considers mirasol a potentially valuable side business.

Like the other mirasol e-readers on the market, the Jin Yong Reader has a 5.7-inch “XGA” format touchscreen display (1024 x 728 pixels, 223 ppi resolution) and runs on a 1.0 GHz Snapdragon (S2, single-core) processor from Qualcomm. Its operating system is a custom interface on top of a Google Android (version 2.3) base. The e-reader takes its name from the popular Chinese novelist and will come pre-loaded with all 15 of Jin Yong’s books.

Koobe has not disclosed pricing or exact availability for the Jin Yong Reader, but the device is expected to be available soon in Taiwan.

Koobe introduced its first e-reader in 2010. That device was black-and-white-only. The company considers the mirasol-equipped Jin Yong Reader to be its “next-generation” e-reader. Both devices were unveiled at the Taipei International Book Exhibition, the largest book fair in Asia.

If you are interested in reading more from Elizabeth Woyke, please go to Forbes.

Why 7-Eleven is successful in China?

Every day during the lunchtime rush hour, 7-Eleven stores in Shanghai are packed with young urbanites. But they’re not there for cigarettes or magazines. Most of them head directly to the food counter to order their lunch.

Welcome to 7 Café, part of the Japanese chain’s formula for blending a small supermarket with a food and beverage retailer.

The concept isn’t unique to China. 7-Eleven also operates a fast food offering in Thailand, as well as in its home market of Japan. But many of its 1,792 Chinese outlets are now offering shoppers the kind of fare more likely found at a local restaurant than a corner store. Customers queue up for fried eggs with tomato, eggplant with minced pork or (for the more adventurous) Japanese stewed fish-paste on a stick.

Sales have been on an uptick. 7-Eleven’s Shanghai outlets, consistently record double the daily store revenue of their rivals.

Hot food is a major contributor. And according to Southern Metropolis Weekly, 7-Eleven’s food service delivers as much as 60% in margin. As a result, the convenience store chain boasts a 32% gross margin in China, much higher than the industry average.

Why the popularity when consumers can find a quick meal on most street corners? One reason is price. A 7-Eleven lunch box costs around Rmb20. For office workers in city-centres, it certainly offers a cheap and convenient option.

The chain also faces little competition. That’s because most domestic convenience stores do not have the licences required to serve hot food, due to concerns about hygiene and food safety.

Somewhat bizarrely, neither does 7-Eleven (in fact, the chain doesn’t even have a licence to sell magazines), reports Southern Metropolis Weekly.

While the chain has never revealed why the authorities agreed to let it sell hot food without a permit, industry insiders think that it made clear that cooked food and magazines would be part of its offering when it negotiated market access in 1992. If that’s right, the 7-Eleven negotiating team should be hiring itself out at vast expense to other multinationals seeking better China market access.

Another reason for the chain’s success is that it maintains tight control over its franchisees. In fact, to become a franchisee is far from straightforward.

In Beijing, for instance, the terms set out are unbelievably tough, says Beijing Business Today. The franchisee is required to invest Rmb300,000 ($47,600) in the store and 7-Eleven demands that prospective candidates (and at least one relative) serve as full time trainees at other stores for a lengthy period beforehand.

The more sales the franchisees make, the more they have to turn over to the chain. When a franchisee makes monthly profits of Rmb40,000, for example, 7-Eleven can take 56%. The proportion rises to 86% if profits are between Rmb100,000 and Rmb220,000. Franchisees also complain about the long hours and 7-Eleven’s requirement of at least one family member joining the business.

One industry observer says the tight supervision of franchisees is no surprise as 7-Eleven is keen to protect its brand.

Despite the grumbling, many people have willingly signed up. The reason? Given its product range, the chain has carved out a niche for itself. A pretty decent living can be made by store managers. For example, by the company’s calculations for Beijing, as long as the franchisee makes daily sales of Rmb15,000, it will earn about Rmb18,000 a month (versus the capital’s monthly average salary of Rmb4,762).

According to 7-Eleven’s own statistics the average store in Beijing turns over Rmb16,672 each day.

If you want to know more about China Consumer, please go to Week in China.