The Jan’12 prices of cylindrical lithium battery cells for notebooks remained unchanged. EnergyTrend, the Green Energy research division of TrendForce, attributes the trend to the fact that manufacturers’ production cut strategies are starting to take effect. Moreover, manufacturers adjusted their production and stocked up components in January in response to the fewer workdays in February; stabilizing cylindrical lithium battery cells’ prices.
Looking back at 2011, the total production of cylindrical battery cells amounted to 1.5 billion units. However, due to the capacity reduction in 4Q11, EnergyTrend estimated the production to decrease to 1.3 billion units in 2012; the downsizing has successfully stabilized the cylindrical lithium battery cells’ prices.
Lithium Polymer Cell Capacity Continues to Soar due to Tablet PC and Smartphone’s High Popularity
Due to the tablet PC and smartphone’s strong sales, 2011 is a fruitful year for the lithium polymer battery cell industry. The cell capacities, whose small size catering to the consumer-based products’ needs, has been increasing in order to meet the high demand. Lithium polymer cell’s production is expected to increase from 450 million units in 2011 to 600 million units in 2012, representing a 33% growth, which will help balance the supply and demand in 2012.
EnergyTrend indicates that if the consumer electronic product makers focus more on a certain specification and size as opposed to several specifications , the industry will have a better chance to reach a balanced supply and demand. Many OEM and ODM makers have gradually unified the amount of specifications they manufacture, while ultrabooks will be the new focus of competition. On account of the decreasing number of new products, demand for different lithium battery specification requests is expected to be simplified and be minimized over time.
