(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| E-One to Begin Lithium Ion Battery Production in 2000
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January 20, 1999 (TAIPEI) -- E-one Energy Technology Corp. aims to produce
one million lithium ion batteries at its new plant in Tainan Science-based
Industrial Park in the first quarter of 2000.
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In order to compete against its Japanese counterparts, E-one will seek
cooperation with related businesses at home, with a view toward jointly
developing raw materials and new manufacturing processes.
E-one's new plant began construction in the wake of a ground breaking
ceremony held on Jan. 14.
It is slated for completion in three years, with a total area of around
39,600 square feet. The first stage of construction should be finished
by the end of 1999, and the plant is scheduled to begin operation in
the first quarter of the year 2000.
The monthly production of round lithium ion batteries for notebook computer
use and rectangular ones for mobile phone use is estimated at one million
units in the initial period.
An extra 500,000 rectangular batteries will be added to the monthly production
next July. E-one expects to invest up to NT$3 billion (US$93 million)
in this plant over the next four years, with a view to eventually producing
a total of 40 million batteries annually.
A spokesman for E-one indicated that while Taiwan is renowned as the
world's leading manufacturer of notebook computers, Japan still controls
more than 90 percent of the global lithium ion battery market.
Even suppliers that are not Japanese have technological cooperation with
partners in that country, he said. E-one, by contrast, researched and
developed the battery on its own.
It recently offered samples of the battery to local notebook makers for
testing in order to let them discover first-hand the high quality of
its new product.
In addition, the spokesman said that the battery will be competitively
priced at only 80-90 percent of that made in Japan.
Many traditional local businesses with diversification plans are expected
to seek cooperation with E-one to jointly develop raw materials and
equipment for the manufacture of lithium ion batteries. Such a move,
the spokesman added, will sharpen the competitiveness of E-one and its
partners here at home.
(Commercial Times, Taiwan)
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