Japan’s TDK is experiencing a surge in demand in Asia for a new line of its smartphone batteries aimed at getting more power into thinner devices.
In the first half of last year, the company began supplying small lithium-ion batteries that use silicon electrodes, TDK CEO Noboru Saitó told Bloomberg. TDK is an Apple supplier and the world’s largest manufacturer of smartphone batteries.
The batteries are manufactured by a subsidiary of Amperex Technology Ltd (ATL), and TDK is the first to use the technology for smartphone batteries, Saitó said. Competitors are exploring the technology primarily as a means to extend the range of electric cars.
TDK is one of several big players in the race to improve energy storage, which is considered the holy grail of the industry.
Competitors, however, are taking a different approach – Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution are layering materials for more compact batteries with higher energy density.
Other options range from graphene-based cells and so-called solid-state batteries with a solid electrolyte to hydrogen cells or sodium-ion batteries.
Saitó said that to stay ahead in the smartphone category, TDK must constantly develop new technologies. The company now controls more than a third of the battery market.
Currently, TDK is the only mass producer of silicon-carbon batteries for use in smartphones. It is mainly interested in phone manufacturers who want to gain an edge in a saturated market thanks to ultra-thin devices and various designs, which high-capacity batteries make possible.
TDK says its new battery has ten percent more capacity than conventional graphite anode batteries. Studies show that this technology has the potential to increase capacity by forty percent or more.
For TDK, advanced batteries are one way to achieve sustainable growth in an area considered commoditized, i.e. common and standardized.
The battery segment accounts for more than half of TDK’s annual sales, and the majority of the company’s customers are smartphone manufacturers. The firm recently reported that smartphone battery growth is stable, raising concerns about slowing growth due to very low margins.
Saitó expects new products to account for a double-digit percentage of total smartphone battery sales in the coming years. Now it is less than five percent.
“As we move into an era of artificial intelligence where the world is increasingly connected, the demands placed on batteries will increase, and it is our job to meet those needs through new and improving technologies,” said Saitó.
They guarantee that batteries will be a sustainable and large pillar of the group’s portfolio, even in the long term, he added.
TDK bought ATL in 2005 and expanded its production into the smartphone market, where it acquired major customers such as Apple and Samsung Electronics.
In 2011, ATL spun off its nascent electric vehicle battery division into Hong Kong firm Contemporary Amperex Technology, with which ATL now has two joint ventures to manufacture rechargeable batteries and battery cells for home energy storage and for motorcycles and industrial machinery.
