Electric Fuel Develops Disposable Cell Phone Battery, EFCX
By Gordon Fairclough
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Electric Fuel Corp. (EFCX) has developed a prototype disposable battery for cellular phones that will last a month and eventually sell for between $6.95 and $9.95, the company told Dow Jones.
Electric Fuel said it plans to begin testing the batteries with customers early next year and expects to begin selling them in summer 1999.
The lightweight batteries will fit phones made by the three top suppliers - Motorola Inc. (MOT), Nokia Oy (NOKA) and Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson (ERICY) - and carry enough power for 15 hours of conversation and 200 hours of standby time on digital phones, the company said. On analog phones, which use more electricity, the batteries will give users six hours of talk and 60 hours of standby time.
"I think the need is there," said Jane Zweig, senior vice president of Herschel Shosteck Associates, a Wheaton, Md., cellular market-research firm. "The key is going to be price."
Selling the disposable batteries for less than $10 each would make them attractive, especially to business people who use their cell phones heavily and don't want to worry about recharging batteries, Zweig said.
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