Samsung Selling Liquavista To Amazon

Samsung is selling Liquavista to e-commerce giant Amazon. According to a rumor that surfaced on Friday, the two companies are actively engaged in acquisition talks.

Samsung purchased the Dutch company in 2011, but a source says it “didn’t meet its expectations.”

Liquavista is an e-reader company that creates display technology. The firms biggest focus is electrowetting, a process that allows e-paper to look more like a traditional LCD display. Liquavista technology offers a refresh rate that is 70-times faster than normal e-paper systems.

Liquavista electrowetting technology is also able to play color video while offering twice the light transmittances of an LCD display at just a tenth of the power needs.

While much of the industry has shifted away from traditional e-readers, the team at Amazon has managed to maintain a relatively successful Amazon Kindle line of devices. Amazon’s focus on those e-readers should help the company better utilize Liquavista e-book technology. Amazon may also give Liquavista the attention it needs. After purchasing the compan,y Samsung watched its focus shift to smartphone and tablet devices which use LCD technology.

At this time, a sale price has not been determined, although a source at Bloomberg claims Amazon will pick up the company and all of its patents for under $100 million.

In a phone call with Bloomberg, Chenny Kim, a spokeswoman for Samsung revealed:

“We are currently reviewing many plans, including the sale, but nothing has been confirmed yet.”

At this time, it is still unclear how far along in the acquisition process the companies have moved.

A quick look at the Liquavista homepage still showcases a Samsung acquisition notice from 2011.

Amazon definitely has the expertise in the e-reader market and its massive e-book sales platform could help further Liquavista technology. Do you think Samsung selling Liquavista to Amazon will make for stronger technological advances at the company?