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Batteries
By Electronic Buyers'
News
Sep 19,
2000 (09:34:31 AM)
URL: http://www.ebnews.com/story/OEG20000913S0039
“Portable applications are driving the rechargeable battery-pack
market, with products becoming smaller and lighter, thus making
smaller and lighter-weight batteries more important; that's the
driver behind lithium-ion and lithium-polymer technologies,” said
analyst Linnea Brush of the Darnell Group, Corona, Calif.
“In addition, increased run time [for notebook PCs] and talk time
[for cell phones] are making the higher-energy-density chemistries
desirable,” she said. “The longer the battery can go without
recharging, the better.”
Li-ion batteries have a strong foothold in notebook computers and
cell phones, according to Brush, and digital phones will be a strong
market in the future. “These are higher-priced applications, and
lithium-ion and lithium-polymer are high-priced batteries,” she
said. “A high-priced product can absorb the extra cost of the
battery more easily than a less-expensive product.”
Li-poly batteries are growing predominantly in the cell-phone
market, while standard Li-ion batteries are holding sway in the
notebook arena, said Barry Huret, president of battery consulting
company
Huret Associates Inc., Yardley, Pa. Several manufacturers have
learned how to make the prismatic Li-ion battery lighter by using a
lighter-weight case, he noted.
For several reasons, some suppliers have not embraced Li-poly
technology. Price is the biggest problem, according to Brush.
“There's never been a question that polymer batteries would be more
expensive than Li-ion batteries, but they've turned out to be quite
a bit more expensive, and this will give Li-ion a boost,” she said.
Up to a point, OEMs will opt for size and weight, Huret said. For
their top lines, where they can afford to incorporate a premium
battery, they will do so. But when they get into higher-volume
products, they'll choose the most cost-effective battery, he said.
This year, a Li-ion battery for a notebook computer will carry an
ASP of $41.42, compared with $60.80 for a Li-poly battery, according
to Darnell Group estimates. Those figures apply only to the cells
and do not include the electronics.
Darnell expects the gap to close somewhat by 2004, with the
Li-ion ASP at $21.86 and Li-poly at $27.32.
One drawback of Li-poly in notebook computers is that batteries
thinner than 10 mm aren't practical, Brush said. “Under that size,
the battery's too thin and can't be inserted or removed without
collapsing,” she said. “To compensate for this, stiffening material
must be added to the battery, which reduces the flexibility and
lightness and increases the size.”
Since Li-poly's thinness and flexibility are a liability in this
application, those issues must be addressed in the production
process, Brush said.
The worldwide rechargeable battery-pack market is expected to
grow from roughly $4.4 billion last year to about $5.8 billion in
2004, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 5.5%.
At the other end of the spectrum, rechargeable nickel/metal
hydride (NiMH) technology is making inroads at the expense of
nickel-cadmium (NiCd). NiMH batteries offer more energy in the same
size and have become cost-effective, Huret said.
Brush pointed to several other reasons NiCd batteries are losing
ground to NiMH batteries: they have no electronics to monitor state
of charge; they're large and heavy; and cadmium, a toxic material,
faces a possible ban in Europe.
In its favor, NiCd technology is inexpensive and has a high power
density, so it's still used for products that rely on quick bursts
of power, such as power tools, Brush said.
Panasonic
Two key focus areas for Panasonic batteries are lithium-polymer
for mobile communications and high-drain nickel/metal hydride
batteries as an alternative to nickel-cadmium batteries in
applications such as power tools.
The biggest opportunities for growth will come from portable
wireless applications, including cell phones, PDAs, and any
combination of the above, said Ty Bowman, marketing manager at
Panasonic's OEM Battery Sales Group, Elgin, Ill. Emerging markets
include automotive telematics and Internet devices, he said.
In January 1999, Panasonic began mass producing thin, 3.6-mm
Li-poly batteries for mobile phones and other small, thin electronic
products.
During the year, Panasonic significantly beefed up its presence
in the high-drain NiMH area. In May, the company introduced a
6,500-mAh D cell (HHR650D), a 2,000-mAh 4/5 sub-C cell (HHR200SCP),
and a 3,000-mAh sub-C cell (HHR300SCP). In November, Panasonic
launched an ultra- slim AAA NiMH cylindrical battery for thin,
lightweight portable products; the HHR70QA offers 700-mAh average
capacity at 1.2 V, and measures 8.4 mm in diameter and 67 mm in
height.
Panasonic has not abandoned its other battery technologies. In
June 1999, it introduced a high-power series of sealed lead acid
(SLA) batteries that offer a slimmer design and up to 30% greater
energy density than typical SLA batteries.
In the same month, the company announced the opening of a
storage-battery facility in Reynosa, Mexico, for the production of
SLA batteries and modular valve-regulated lead acid batteries for
backup telecom applications.
Panasonic last year also developed 3- and 6-V lithium primary
batteries for next-generation products such as digital still cameras
and other portable electronic products.
This year, Panasonic will implement e-business,
customer-relationship management, and supply-chain management
initiatives for major customers.
Panasonic's parent company, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.
Ltd., recorded $68.9 billion in sales for fiscal 1999, ended March
2000. Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd., of which Panasonic
Batteries is a unit, is targeting $2.7 billion in sales for fiscal
2000 and $3 billion in sales for fiscal 2001.
Saft
Although Saft America Inc. last year was placing bets on its new
polythium version of lithium-polymer technology for high-end
telecommunications applications, the company has since dropped the
technology.
“We scrubbed that effort in the middle of last year,” said Andy
Bartocci, OEM marketing manager at Saft America in San Diego. “We
developed a good technology in terms of electrodes, but the
commercialization of it would've required significantly more
investment in the technology.”
The company has renewed interest in beefing up its larger-cell
nickel/ metal hydride and nickel-cadmium batteries and improving the
performance of its line of medium prismatic lithium-ion batteries.
This year, Saft plans to announce several new NiMH batteries-the
VH AAA (700 mAh), VH sub-C 3000 (3 Ah), VH 4/5 C (2 Ah), VH D (8.5
Ah), and VHF (13 Ah). “The VH D is probably unrivaled in terms of
its capacity of 8.5 Ah in that cell size,” Bartocci said.
The company also has a new version of its NiMH sub-C, called the
VH sub-C HP, coming out later this year. The HP model, which offers
a higher capacity and longer life cycle than the previous version,
is well suited for power-tool applications, according to Bartocci.
“Our strengths and core competency as a supplier of NiCd and NiMH
products is in larger cell sizes such as the sub-C, D, and F,”
Bartocci said. NiCd sales are not eroding by any means, he added.
Key to Saft's Li-ion efforts is the enhancement of cell capacity.
In this area, Saft offers the high-capacity MP144350 (2,300 mAh),
MP174865 (3,800 mAh), and MP176065 (5,500 mAh).
These devices are typically used in niche markets such as
specialized instrumentation and military applications, so they won't
be found in price-sensitive consumer applications, Bartocci said.
“MP's a good fit for higher- value products that require a lot of
energy and light weight,” he said.
Saft's future Li-ion efforts will be focused on expanding the
company's presence and stepping up its battery-assembly efforts in
North America and improving the performance of its MP line, Bartocci
said.
To that end, Saft last year consolidated its battery assembly and
cell manufacturing at a new facility in Tijuana, Mexico. “It allows
us to combine our cell manufacturing and battery assembly all under
the same roof,” Bartocci said. “In terms of the factory layout and
flow of product, it offers some advantages of doing it all in the
same place.”
Sanyo
Last year was a big one for advancement in energy density in all
of Sanyo's battery technologies. The company improved the
performance of each particular technology-lithium-ion,
lithium-polymer, nickel/metal hydride, and nickel-cadmium-for
cutting-edge products, and that was key to growth and new-product
development, said Joe Carcone, vice president of sales and marketing
at Sanyo Energy (U.S.A.) Corp. in San Diego.
New products account for roughly 50% of Sanyo's total sales
revenue, Carcone said.
Sanyo has increased the energy density of Li-ion cells for
notebook computers by approximately 10% to 20% annually, and is
driving the cell capacity of the standard 18650 battery for
notebooks to roughly 1,900 mAh. The company has also increased the
performance of NiMH batteries by at least 10%.
Although demand for NiCd batteries has slowed, Sanyo continues to
invest in the technology. The company last year increased the energy
density of its standard NiCd sub-C cell to 2.4 Ah from 1.9 Ah, and
introduced a new high-energy-density NiCd product called Cobalt
Power for power-tool applications.
Another key strategy for Sanyo is expanding its manufacturing and
engineering capabilities, which also contributes to growth. “You
need to have the embedded engineering and manufacturing capabilities
to allow quick turnaround and bring product to production quickly,”
Carcone said.
Overall, Sanyo has expanded its production capacity in the
Americas by more than 25% annually. The same is true for its
worldwide production, according to Carcone.
The company has increased its engineering expertise by doubling
that staff worldwide. “We enhanced our engineering expertise for
production and development of all the infrastructure that goes along
with the batteries, which includes safety circuitry and other
embedded devices inside the battery pack,” Carcone said.
Sanyo is also continuing to emphasize cost leadership, having
adopted the Six Sigma quality program for improving quality, cost
reduction, processes, and operations.
“We're working on the implementation of Six Sigma across the
board in our manufacturing processes, operations, and supply-chain
management,” Carcone said.
“Supply-chain management is key for us to meet the goals and
objectives of our customers, so we're pushing those demands
downstream to our suppliers for better terms, cost reduction, and
supply-chain management,” he said.
Sony
One of Sony Electronics Inc.'s biggest challenges in the past
year has been the price decline of lithium-ion cells. Sony recently
announced that it will limit production of Li-ion cells this year
because of price erosion, said Barry Huret, president of Huret
Associates Inc., Yardley, Pa. “They can't make money on them,” he
said.
Sony will also convert some of its factories to the production of
Li-polymer, and the company is building a Li-polymer factory in
Mexico, according to Huret.
Li-poly's most significant growth has been in the cell-phone
market, Huret said.
Sony experienced a setback in February 1999, when the company
recalled a number of its InfoLithium battery packs for consumer
products. Models NP-F750 and NP-F550, of which about 415,000 packs
were manufactured in Japan between March and June 1999, overheated
and/or smoked while being discharged.
Sony Electronics posted $12.2 billion in sales in fiscal 1999,
ended March 31. Sony OEM Energy Division is a unit of Sony
Electronics.
Sony OEM Energy Division could not be reached for comment.
Toshiba
While some battery manufacturers are downplaying their position
in lithium-polymer technology, Toshiba America Electronic Components
Inc. (TAEC) has shifted most of its focus into that area.
Key for TAEC last year was the development of its Advanced
Lithium Battery (ALB) technology, which is targeted at handheld
devices, said Ritch Russ, business development manager of batteries
and LCDs at the Irvine, Calif., company.
The company began production in Japan in fall 1999 with a
capacity of 50,000 cells per month. Its current production capacity
is 1.5 million cells per month, and TAEC plans to increase capacity
to 2 million cells by the end of September.
The vendor offers products in thicknesses ranging from 3 to 6 mm.
Volume will be driven by cell phones, then PDAs, scanner-type
devices, and emerging technologies such as e-books and Web pads,
Russ said.
Availability for the Li-poly cells is tight, Russ noted.
“Currently, we're targeting large OEM customers, but we have an
aggressive plan to increase manufacturing, and plan to have
wide-scale availability by April 2001,” he said.
In focusing on Li-poly, TAEC has lost market share in Li-ion and
nickel/metal hydride during the past year, Russ noted. “Because of
the downturn in the Japanese market, we invested all of our eggs in
the Li-poly ALB technology basket,” he said.
“We're focusing our efforts on the next-generation technology,
while some of our competition-particularly Sanyo-continues to
increase manufacturing capacity for Li-ion and NiMH, which has
allowed them to gain additional market share in the short term,”
Russ said.
Pricing also played a hand in TAEC's decision to shift to
Li-poly.
“We've made a major shift because of the price erosion of
Li-ion,” Russ said.
Meanwhile, TAEC isn't abandoning its other rechargeable-battery
lines. While it won't increase manufacturing capacity in those
areas, it will continue to invest R&D dollars to enhance cell
performance.
Facing the continuing challenge of trying to make a profit, TAEC
is streamlining its manufacturing processes, such as adding tooling
to eliminate bottleneck locations.
“We're improving in this area, and everyone's struggling to do
that,” Russ said. Copyright 1999 CMP Media Inc.
Increasing demand for
lighter-weight, longer-running portable devices has driven battery
suppliers to invest heavily in lithium-technology research and
development.
Top battery companies
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