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Technology Stocks : VALENCE TECHNOLOGY (VLNC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lws who wrote (12119)	6/15/1999 1:00:00 AM
From: Rich Wolf	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27311

Hi LWS, First some background: The model 43 series of cellphone cells are of size 34x48 mm, ranging in thicknesses from 1.3 to 8.8 mm; the 43D is 8.6mm thick, 23.5 g, and 880 mAh for 3.8 v; this translates to 142 wh/kg energy density. This is better than the best li-ion cells on the market, currently the Sanyo 18650 cylinders that provide 136 wh/kg; most prismatic (flat) li-ion cells provide only 100-114 wh/kg, from what I've seen; the transition to aluminum cannisters will improve those numbers, but not allow them to exceed Valence's current advertised specs. (Apart from the question of improvements available from Valence's 'next generation' cathode materials; possibly online in late fall, after extensive testing?) But to get to your question, the spec sheets for the 43D showed that the cell would operate properly for the digital modulation format used by GSM (the growing world standard). Think of the current being drawn from the battery as going from zero to max level, holding it there (for 4 milliseconds), and dropping back to zero; after half a millisecond, this is repeated. That is, the transmitted power is in the form of a sequence of nearly perfect 'square pulses,' closely spaced. It is important that there is no lag in the rise time (or fall) of the pulses (no 'rounding' of the pulses). The curves plotted on the spec sheet showed very sharp response, with no additional overshoot or undershoot. I would make another observation that this cell was probably designed in response to a European customer (where GSM is more extensive). If you consider the models listed as available from the "Orange" site (link from tmoore) for UK and European countries esp., note how many of them are exclusively for GSM. No reason to post a WAG here about which manufacturers might end up using Valence cells. But considering that Valence's NI plant is in the EU market, and the only other declared cell producers who could provide the volume required by Ericsson and others are the Japanese ... and that the Japanese market would probably absorb all the cells Sony and Matsushita (Panasonic) would make ... well, I'd expect some Valence cells to be used in the European market soon ... but that's JMHO. Regards, Rich