Japan, Secondary Battery Market to Double by F2013

Japanese domestic market of secondary batteries for large-size applications such as automobiles is forecasted to almost double to 540 billion yen in fiscal 2013 ending March 2014 compared with estimated 280.2 billion yen in F2007, according to a market research by Fuji-Keizai, Japanese market researcher. Lithium ion battery market is expected to expand by 8 times to 85.1 billion yen in F2013 compared with F2007.Nickel hydride battery market is forecasted to grow by 2.3 times to 187.4 billion yen in F2013 compared with F2007, 95% of which is related to automobiles and other transporting machines. Demand for nickel hydride battery would continue steady growth by 2011-2012 when lithium ion batteries start to be adopted more widely.Adoption of lithium ion batteries seems delayed for large-size applications impacted by ignition and heating accidents in mobile-size electronic appliances. In 2011-2012, however, lithium ion batteries would become adopted to hybrid electric vehicles (HEV).Domestic HEV market (passenger cars) is forecasted at 1.05 cars in F2013. Secondary battery market for HEV is estimated to expand by 3.3 times to 223.4 billion yen in F2013 from F2007.