Global Battery Market Prospers with Emergence of Electric Cars

Taipei, Dec. 8, 2009 (CENS)--With emergence of electric cars and popularity of 3C (computer, communications and consumer electronics) products, the scale of the global market for lead-acid, Ni-MH and lithium-ion batteries is expected to hit US$43.6 billion this year and continue prospering in the future, according to DRAMeXchange.

Presently, lead-acid batteries command a 70% share of the global market for batteries, and lithium-ion models a 20%, with Japanese and Korean companies, such as Sanyo Electric, Samsung SDI, Sony and LG Chemical, as major suppliers in the market.

Although totally commanding a global market share of over 70% in the segment for small-sized batteries for handheld devices, Japanese makers have seen their global market share gradually eroded by Korea's Samsung SDI and LG Chemical in recent years, which are catching up and threatening Sanyo and Sony's leading position in the line, DRAMeXchange indicates.

But such emergence is sparking another competition among makers of large-sized batteries. Especially, DRAMeXchange mentions, lithium iron phosphate batteries are the most stellar products in the segment, mainly because such batteries, in addition to being safer than lithium cobalt batteries which are easy to overload and heat, also feature high power, long lifespan, short recharge time and eco friendliness as an optimal alternative to other car batteries.

Advantages and promising outlook of such batteries have attracted a number of Taiwanese companies dedicating their energy to development and production of the cathode material, namely lithium iron phosphate. For example Formosa Plastic Group's affiliate Formosa Energy & Material Technology Co., Ltd. is planning to achieve annual output of 52.8 million metric tons of the material, while Hirose Tech Co., Ltd. is also engaged in development of cathode material for lithium iron phosphate batteries.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's globally famous notebook PC battery module suppliers, namely Simplo Technology Co. and Dynapack International Technology Corp. have been tapping the emerging market for car batteries. Aiming to sell over NT$20 billion in electric car batteries, Simplo may partner with Chinese automakers in the future.