Market trends in smart battery packs for portable electronics

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) and nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) are the main chemistries used in "smart" battery packs. Li-ion is projected to be the dominant chemistry for portable electronics applications. This presentation examines the "smart" portion of the Li-ion and Ni-MH battery pack market to determine if these projections are marketing hype or based on solid economic trends. The smart battery market was examined by four application areas (cellular phones, laptop computers, camcorders and "other"). Li-ion will be the largest dollar market with cellular showing the largest sales. Ni-MH will actually grow faster than Li-ion, but pricing is lower, so the dollar market will not be as large.