The global battery market is now worth about sixty-five billion US dollars, of which roughly 5.5 billion dollars is apportioned to rechargeable (secondary) batteries. The growth is estimated at 6 percent annually through 2012. Australia, Pakistan, Ecuador, the Czech Republic and Japan will record some of the most robust market gains.



Presently the fastest growth area inside the battery sector is the automotive marketplace, which is experiencing hefty double-digit development. In the automotive space, Hybrid Electric Vehicles are driving a surge in demand for lithium and other chemical technologies, while the core sealed lead-acid battery market continues to sustain earnings and show steady growth due to after-market sales and the expanding worldwide fleet of motor cars. Almost 45% of the current fifteen billion dollar lead acid battery market can be attributed to the aftermarket category. Despite recent rises in lead prices, the Sealed lead-acid battery market is likely to see significant growth owing to its dependability, rugged construction, small cost of maintenance, better performance compared with other technologies, and the inability to develop a commercially viable alternative technology that could replace SLA batteries in all these aspects.

Another fervid growth sub-category is the PC battery market which is expected to rise from 1.5 billion in 2007 at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 9 percent.

The reality above are copious grounds of just how hot the battery market is for venture capitalists at present, and what a large return they expect if a battery technology find should occur. A revolution in this space might be similar to the holy-grail, due to dependency on batteries for portability.

Of the many chemical technologies, the Lithium rechargeable battery market is projected to be seven billion dollars by the year 2015. Of this growth, the Lithium rechargeable battery market for HEVs is envisaged to rise from virtually zero in 2005 to roughly US two billion dollars in 2015 ? the equivalent of a 50% year-over-year compound annual growth rate. The overall market for Lithium batteries is increasing much faster in terms of quantity, but as a result of device cost decreases due to increased efficiencies in the manufacturing processes and increases in production volumes, aggregate revenue growth is not forecast to speed up so quickly.

The storage battery market is extremely competitive and hence vast sums of money are invested on research and development each month. Advanced New chemical technologies, along with advancements in old technologies leads industry pundits to predict transmutations in battery capacity (for equivalent size and weight) of 3 to 4 times over the next five years. This doubling of capacity every 2 and a half years is correspondent to moores law in the computer sector which sees processor power doubling every 17 months.

In terms of disposable batteries, on average a consumer purchases these types of batteries 3 times per year. Disposable batteries are reckoned to have the largest margins per square foot in most retail stores, and they are often an impulse buy by the consumer. These types of batteries are sold in more retail shops than any other products, period. This is obviously due to the huge array of devices that are reliant on batteries ? Many experts see sales as pretty much recession proof.

From an environmental view, single-use batteries are obviously problematic, due to their very nature. The earths landfills are overflowing with the often deadly byproducts of the disposable battery boom. In light of this the European Union has come up and introduced a bill called the European Directive on Batteries, which has finally been agreed to and will come into force in 2010, introducing recycling to the market. It is hoped that America and other nations will follow this development closely and introduce their own environmental legislation.