Thought you might enjoy the following - it gives a good indication of the demand that valence will be selling into.
TOKYO, March 27 (Reuter) - Japan Storage Battery Co Ltd <6931.T> will separate its lithium-ion battery division in July to form a new company with the participation of Mitsubishi Electric Corp <6503.T>, the two companies said on Thursday.
The new firm, GS-MELCO Co Ltd, will have a monthly production capacity of three million lithium ion battery cells in 1997, raising the capacity to 10 million cells in 2000, the two companies said.
Sales in 1997 are estimated at 34 billion yen.
GS-MELCO will be owned 60 percent by Japan Storage Battery and the remaining 40 percent by Mitsubishi Electric.
The new company is expected to invite SAFT S.A. of France to join in the near future, the companies said in a statement.
Lithium ion batteries are becoming increasingly popular for use in portable computers and cellular phones, with the industry leader Sony Corp <6758.T> producing nearly 10 million cells a month.
05:14 03-27-97
TOKYO, March 27 (Reuter) - Mitsubishi Electric Corp <6503.T> and Japan Storage Battery Co Ltd <6931.T> will form a joint venture to manufacture lithium ion batteries, a key component used in notebook personal computers, a Mitsubishi official said on Thursday.
The two firms will announce details of the new company from 5 p.m. (0800 GMT), he said.
He added that a French company may participate in the new joint venture, but declined to give further details.
A shortage of lithium ion batteries, coupled with short supplies of large-screen liquid crystal displays, has put a brake on Japan's production of notebook PCs, demand for which is booming as corporate users are shifting to space-saving compact PCs from desktops.
Sony Corp <6758.T> is at present leading the market, followed by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd <6752.T> and Sanyo Electric Co Ltd <6764.T>.
02:26 03-27-97 |
