ePaper Insight: The global ESL module market is expected to grow to approximately US$3 billion by 2025

The Bluetooth SIG recently released a new wireless standard for Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs) - Bluetooth Core Specification Version 5.4. The current wireless communication private protocol technology barriers of ESL system manufacturers may be broken. This standardization will promote the entry of more chip and complete machine suppliers into the ESL ecosystem. At the same time, the system compatibility between different manufacturers will be enhanced, and the cost will be further reduced . ePaper Insight predicts that the global ESL module market will grow to about US$3 billion in 2025 (Note: currently about RMB 20.82 billion).

Electronic price tags are also called electronic price tags or electronic shelf labels (ESL). Electronic shelf label solutions help physical stores achieve digital management without manual operations. They automatically change preset prices at the right time and achieve seamless omni-channel chain unified management.

At present, electronic price tags are mainly divided into two categories: LCD electronic price tags and electronic paper price tags. Among them, the electronic paper price tag category has the characteristics of static display without power consumption, and does not require additional wiring construction. Taking the 2.13-inch electronic price tag as an example, it only needs two button batteries and has a service life of more than 5 years. Due to its intelligent Internet of Things and energy saving and environmental protection, it has been widely used in the retail industry and has become the preferred solution for retailers' digital transformation.

The electronic price tag system consists of three parts: electronic price tag terminal, base station, and cloud platform. It is a typical IoT architecture. The base station is the core control hub of the electronic price tag system. The cloud is interconnected with the electronic price tag through the base station. Since the 2.4GHz and Bluetooth private protocols have the highest overall cost-effectiveness, they are most widely used in the Chinese electronic price tag market. At present, all ESL manufacturers use customized private protocols, which brings retailers problems such as high cost of multi-system integration and less supplier selection, which poses a potential obstacle to the globalization of ESL.

In February 2023, the Bluetooth SIG, the industry association responsible for developing Bluetooth technology, released a new wireless standard for the Electronic Shelf Label (ESL) market.

The release of Bluetooth 5.4 by the Global Bluetooth Association has verified the certainty of the electronic price tag industry. This standardization has promoted the system compatibility and optimization of the overall cost between different ESL manufacturers, which has brought greater confidence to manufacturers in the ESL ecosystem and will encourage more manufacturers to enter the market faster.

Figure: Global e-paper smart new retail module market size development trend from 2019 to 2025, Source: ePaper Insight

The release of new wireless standards will accelerate the market size of ESL. At present, the major electronic price tag system solution providers are mainly France's SES, China's Hanshow, Sweden's Picer, South Korea's Solum, etc. In mainland China, more than a dozen companies such as ZKONG Intelligent Control Network, Yunliwuli, Wolian Electronics and Yaliang are also actively expanding their market share. Many domestic ESL module manufacturers have also stated that they will actively deploy the electronic paper ESL market.

ePaper Insight believes that, combined with the current dual-carbon strategic background and related benefits such as the Bluetooth protocol, the ESL market will maintain its growth trend, the ESL ecosystem will usher in a new round of entry and reshuffle opportunities, and the ESL module market size is expected to increase to approximately US$3 billion in 2025.

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