Sony Corporation said August 4 that it plans to invest 40 billion yen (US$369.9 million) to raise its monthly lithium-ion battery output capacity to 74 million units by the end of 2010 from roughly 41 million units now. Over the three years through fiscal 2010, the electronics giant will invest to build an electrode factory at Sony Energy Device Corporation’s Motomiya Technology Center in Fukushima Prefecture and to add battery cell production lines at the subsidiary's Tochigi Technology Center in Tochigi Prefecture.
The stepped-up investment is aimed at tapping growing demand for lithium-ion batteries for use in cordless power tools, shavers and other small consumer electronics products. At present, roughly 50 percent of Sony's lithium-ion batteries are used in cellular phones, with slightly more than 20 percent supplied for use in notebook computers.
