It’s the era of True wireless stereo earbuds. And these technologic species work by ultra-small round batteries or coin cell batteries. A recent report indicates that LG energy solutions have halted ultra-small round battery production at Ochang Plant. Alternatively, LG is focusing on the development of coin cell batteries to bid for Apple Airpods Max and Galaxy Buds. LG’s initiative will be materialized by 2022 as the production line and supply chain is not ready as of yet.
Earlier we heard that LG is out of mobile phone production and is now opting out of the production of round cell batteries for earphones as well. Despite the fact that True wireless stereo earbuds demand has seen a massive increase this year.
The alternative, LG’s Nanjing factory line which used to produce the same round batteries also halted the process last month. LG will completely stop the production of round cell batteries by the end of 2021.
It is due to supply and demand variations. And all major earbuds manufacturers including Apple have shifted to coin cells due to their smaller size and better power ratio.
The wireless earphone market is expanding rapidly. According to an industry report, the demand for batteries for wireless earphones is expected to grow at a CAGR of 26% to 1.2 billion cells in 2025. As large global companies such as Apple and Samsung Electronics launch new wireless earphones, the market size is expected to grow, centered on Coin Cell batteries
Theelec.net
Coin cells are measured about one-tenth of the 18,650 cylindrical battery (diameter 18mm, height 65mm). Moreover, they have more capacity as compared to LG round batteries. Apple AirPods Pro has coin cell batteries of 1.98 w. This capacity is quite larger than the capacity of ultra-small round batteries (1.52Wh).
The official stance of LG Energy Solutions regarding Round Batteries Production halt
LG Energy solutions supplied round cell batteries for Apple’s first AirPods, back in 2016. And now, Germany’s VARTA is the supplier of coin cell batteries to Apple.
Coin Cell batteries have a more complicated manufacturing process and higher labor cost than those of ultra-small round batteries. As a result, the overall manufacturing cost is increased.
But companies are ready to take the risk of seeing the cost-benefit analysis. The result is also obvious as consumers want better battery timings and are ready to pay the price. It is more obvious seeing the dominance of Apple AirPods in the TWS earphones category.
The LG energy solution official elaborated it briefly. He said:
“We cannot disclose further details about the suspension of the operation of the ultra-small round battery production. And our future business plans. But we will continue to respond flexibly to market conditions for production lines”
Seeing the development we are sure that low-end variants of earbuds will slowly disappear from the market. The cost will go high and low-end consumers will have to pay more bucks. We are not so sure about the market impact, as of yet.
We will update as and when we receive more updates
[…] We have seen the case of Apple’s AirPods Pro and Samsung Galaxy buds. Seeing the trend, LG has stopped manufacturing round cells and has decided to manufacture Coin cells. The move is aimed to grab the contract from Apple and […]