Worldwide Lithium Secondary Battery Shipments Reached 4911 Million Cells in 2012, Claims SNE Research

09 Apr 2013 • by Natalie Aster

In 2012, global lithium secondary battery shipments totaled 4911 million cells. Quarterly shipments were 1140 million cells in the first quarter, 1,250 million cells in the second quarter, 1,280 million cells in the third quarter, and 1,250 million cells in the fourth quarter.

Although the market was expected to grow between 3Q and 4Q, which belong to the peak season in the IT industry, the overall LIB shipments were actually flat, as demand for the cylindrical type decreased from 495 million cells in 3Q to 417 million cells in 4Q. This resulted from fierce competition between companies such as Panasonic, Samsung SDI, and LG Chem for increasing capacity of cylindrical batteries, and excessive investment in cylindrical and prismatic batteries, which are relatively standardized and allow employing automation to the fullest, as an attempt to reduce labor costs.

According to the report “LIBs for IT Applications: Market Analysis and Forecast, Comprehensive edition 2012” by SNE Research, while the prismatic type has no major difficulties, creating new demand continuously through smart phone applications such as Samsung Galaxy Series, demand for the cylindrical type continues to decrease. Thus, related companies are striving to create new applications. On the other hand, Chinese LIB manufacturers such as ATL, Lishen, Coslight, and B&K, which have focused on production of and investment in the polymer type, are enjoying the current market situation.

Report Details:

LIBs for IT Applications: Market Analysis and Forecast, Comprehensive edition 2012
Published: February, 2013
Pages: 153
Price: US$ 3,950.00

The market share of the polymer type increased from 242 million cells in 1Q of 2012 to 328 million in 4Q of 2012, and is expected to reach 33.4% of the entire demand for IT applications. Based on the shipment amount, this corresponds to 53.1%. This is because the polymer type is shifting toward high capacity, and consequentially the unit cell price is higher than those of the cylindrical and the prismatic type. Thus, the biggest issues of LIB manufacturers worldwide are to operate products lines and make investments to meet the increasing demand for polymer batteries, and find new applications for cylindrical batteries to make up for the decreasing demand.

More information can be found in the report “LIBs for IT Applications: Market Analysis and Forecast, Comprehensive edition 2012” by SNE Research.

To order the report or ask for sample pages contact [email protected]

Contacts

MarketPublishers, Ltd.
Tanya Rezler
Tel: +44 208 144 6009
Fax: +44 207 900 3970
[email protected]
MarketPublishers.com