Sony’s lithium-ion battery unit is no longer for sale, as the Japanese firm believes a weak yen and growing demand for smartphone batteries will turnaround the troubled business.
For the past two years Sony had been planning to offload the unit, which was a pioneer in making lithium-ion batteries for computers and mobile devices but has struggled recently against cheaper South Korean rivals. In 2006, Sony was forced to recall its rechargeable lithium-ion batteries containing Sony cells used in Fujitsu, Gateway, Sony and Toshiba notebook computers.
A government fund tried to broker a sale of the battery business to a Nissan Motor Co Ltd and NEC Corp joint venture earlier this year. However, talks stalled and Sony has now told the fund that it will hold on to the battery unit and develop it as a core business, the Japanese business daily Nikkei reported, citing unidentified sources.
Sony, which last year sold its chemical business to the government fund, is trying to revive the fortunes of its consumer electronics business by focusing on cameras, gaming and mobile devices. The battery unit is seeing increased demand for some of its new products, the Japanese business daily Nikkei reported.