Tech Angsts Over Battery Costs

The RED HERRING writes about the tech industry’s quest for more efficient ways to power all sorts of devices, while batteries take up a bigger chunk of the bill of material costs. The endless search for more power at lower costs is driving the industry. As Chris Ambarian at iSuppli said, "It’s not so much a differentiator, but it’s a potential dissatisfier. Short battery life is not a good thing for the consumer."

While some studies have shown that laptop users are willing to pay more for extra battery life, the same might not hold true for the larger cell phone market. According to Stuart Robinson at Stategy Analytics, "emerging markets where average salaries are low will drive cell phone growth in the future, growing from about 35 to 45 percent of the market by 2010." Some key factoids on this market from Strategy Analytics are:

• average mobile phone prices will drop to $50 or lower
• more than 70 percent of phones will have USB
• more than 55 percent will have Bluetooth
• about 11 percent of phones will have television.
• 75 percent of users have run short of power on their phones
• 30 percent said their phones had cut out three or more times in the last year
• Many people preferred a device with fewer features but longer talk time and quality of service
• only about 18 percent of people considered battery life “in great detail” before buying a new phone
  

“Fuel cells will be growing toward the end of the forecast period, but they are not a good alternative for now,” Robinson said. But for the time being compromises will have to be made. Most likely less battery life or higher prices...