Lithium-ion Battery Prices Up

Sanyo Electric Co. and Sony Corp. have increased their prices of lithium batteries due to rising materials costs, reports The Nikkei Weekly.

The increase for mobile phones will be approximately 8% and for notebook personal computers 10%.

Each month, Sanyo and Sony supply more than 60 million lithium-ion batteries worldwide. These batteries are used to power cell phones and notebook PCs. Since the price for cobalt, the main material for electrodes of lithium-ion batteries, rose worldwide, the battery price hike will likely lead to higher product prices.