Hurt by Samsung’s battery fires, the battery market initially showed concern in the source of problematic batteries and design flaws. However, the fact that batteries are hitting the limit of capacity might be the underlying reason that forces battery makers to sacrifice safety over ultra-high capacity. The result severely hurt an international smartphone brand’s reputation.
The battery that catches fires are polymer battery cells. Samsung called for halt of manufacturing following a month-long chaos. However, the supply-demand sufficiency is not disturbed by the halt.
Cylindrical battery cells market witnessed high demand as Chinese market’s demand in logistics vehicles using new energy contributed to the growth. Meanwhile, the demand of pedelec is rising as well. Under strong demand, both the price for IT and power applications remain moderate upward trend in September 2016.
Thanks to safety concern in polymer battery cells, ATL’s gaining higher market share as it gradually monopolize the market with prices. Meanwhile, the dominating position of Korean battery prices is weakening. Currently the striking difference in production capacity between ATL and Korean manufacturers cannot be altered within two years. The price drop of polymer battery cells will halt as demanded spec rise, customized appearance and varied supply. Polymer battery cells’ advantages in diversified supplies or innovative ID design in its products keep them irreplaceable. In the fourth quarter of 2016, it’s projected that the price of polymer battery cells to continue growing.
Prismatic cells take advantages in prices and cycle life. Meanwhile, it’s relatively difficult for prismatic cells to replace polymer cells, which prismatic cells’ market erosion can only be found in cylinder cells market. On the other hand, the market share in notebook market hasn’t seen significant growth. The supply- demand balance projected unchanged price in the second half of 2016.
