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,” said Davor Sutija, Thinfilm CEO.