Portable computer, tablet, and smartphone batteries make up one of the fastest-growing segments within the electronics market segment. BCC Research identified a $2.4 billion global market for 2001. After slowly falling, sales in the market exploded due to the introduction of tablet computers and multifunctional smartphones. The $7.3 billion market in 2012 is projected to grow to $9.5 billion by 2017.
BCC also discusses the market potential of stationary applications. The overall stationary market was expected to reach nearly $2.8 billion in 2012. The largest increase will be for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and smaller remote stationary applications in view of protecting telecommunications facilities and preventing data lost during power outages. For instance, the global UPS large-and-advanced battery market is expected to grow from $2.3 billion in 2012 to about $2.8 billion by 2017.
Lead-containing batteries include most industrial and large portable product lead-acid batteries, but not the giant automotive starting, lighting, and ignition market. Chinese scooter motive power dominates the advanced lead-acid battery market. Nickel-containing batteries include the environmentally problematic nickel-cadmium battery as well as the widely used nickel metal hydride battery. Lithium-containing batteries include the very widely used lithium-ion as well as the lithium-polymer battery. Others battery groups include metal-air batteries, specialty batteries like nickel-hydrogen and silver-based batteries, and developmental batteries like nickel-zinc, sodium-sulfur, etc.