Samsung Electronics has switched from German battery maker Varta to China’s EVE Energy for its latest wireless earphones, the Galaxy Buds+, according to global repair parts seller iFixit on Mar. 4.
The earphones used the coin-cell type batteries supplied by EVE Energy, iFixit said. Previous Samsung earphone models, such as the Gear IconX and the Gear IconX 2018, all used Varta products.
Industry sources said the move appeared to be aimed at cutting costs, as Varta batteries with a 58mAh capacity cost around USD5 per unit. Since the Galaxy Buds+ is of a bigger capacity of 85mAh, Samsung would have had to shoulder bigger battery costs.
Amid’s Samsung switch to EVE Energy, Varta has filed a suit against Samsung Electronics’ US corporation for infringing patents. Varta claims that the EVE Energy batteries used in the Galaxy Buds+ violates its patents.
But as Samsung SDI has also recently said it would be producing wireless earphones, Samsung Electronics has no reason to be fazed, according to market watchers. In 2019, Samsung SDI said it would enter the market based on analyses showing the wireless earphone market growing to more than 26% to 1.2 billion cells by 2025 from 300 million in 2019.
Market research firm CounterPoint Research estimates show the coin-cell batteries having a 57% market share, compared to the 18% of pin-cell batteries this year. In 2019, pin-cell types accounted for 48%, while coin-cells accounted for 25%.
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