Tablet PC releases pushed up polymer battery inventory level, cell price up over 5 percent in 2Q11

TAIWAN: As consumer electronic products become thinner and lighter, the importance of polymer battery has also become the focus in 2011.

According to EnergyTrend, a research division of TrendForce, since the supply from Japanese and Korean makers is limited, polymer battery price has sharply increased by more than 5 percent in 2Q11. In addition, the average shipment of Taiwanese battery pack manufacturers has grown over 30 percent.

Polymer battery was mainly adopted in high-end products such as Apple’s products in the past. With a rapid increase in tablet PC product development in the market, application of polymer battery in the other brands starts to expand. EnergyTrend predicts, the annual growth rate of polymer battery price will reach at least 10 percent in 2011, which is a rare opportunity for the battery industry to raise price.

Cylindrical and polymer battery markets show varied demands
EnergyTrend forecasts that there is a 5~10 percent oversupply in the cylindrical battery market in 2011. In contrary, since there is a consistent increase in demand for tablet PCs and ultra thin notebook, polymer battery demand rocketed.

It has shown that sellers become a price maker, no matter what unit price trend or market trend show. The market turned into a sell’s market where higher demand than existing supply leads to seller advantage over unit price.

Supply and Demand of the Cylindrical Battery and Polymer BatterySource: EnergyTrend, Taiwan.

Tablet PC launches increased demand of 2Q11
Due to various releases of tablet PCs since March 2011, polymer battery inventory has generally increased subsequently.

In addition, according to EnergyTrend’s research, the shipment of each battery pack manufacturer in the second quarter has sharply increased by 25~50 percent. It has shown that each battery pack manufacturers have reach full capacity utilization.

Polymer Battery Module Shipment ForecastSource: EnergyTrend, Taiwan, 2011.

In summary, EnergyTrend indicates that the polymer cell market trend of 2H11 is as follows:

Polymer cell has drawn much attention since the releases of tablet PCs in March 2011. Brand vendors are aggressively increasing their polymer battery inventory in the second quarter. EnergyTrend estimates that battery supplier advantage market will last till 3Q11.

The unit price of polymer cell battery pack and cylindrical battery pack is the same. However, the cost of polymer cell accounts for a higher percentage of the total cost than the cost cylindrical cell does, and polymer battery greatly require customization. If polymer cell demand continue to grow, but the capacity utilization can not keep up with the product demand, it is estimated that an increase in polymer cell price will strike again.