Samsung SDI completes battery pack plant in India

Samsung SDI is ready to rev up its battery pack-making facilities in India, meaning mass production is available on cue. The exact size of the money spent on the plant has not been unveiled, but overseas media puts it at around 100 billion won.

However, the firm has yet to decide when operations will begin. With Samsung Electronics prepared to manufacture a third of its smartphones next year – up to 100 million handsets – under the ODM method, some industry watcher believe the demand for the battery packs may not be so big.

Adding to such speculation, China’s ATL has agreed to supply battery packs to Samsung Electronics through its partner company Navitasys in India, and not China. Navitasys is a battery pack company established by Japan’s TDK, which is the largest shareholder of ATL.

The new Indian plant will be run by Samsung SDI’s suppliers. They will receive the battery cells from SDI’s battery plant in China’s Tianjin to make the battery packs in India. This marks the first time for the Samsung unit’s suppliers to engage in such a setup in India. For now, only some of the suppliers are running lines to provide Samsung’s low-tier Galaxy M series.

For now, Samsung SDI plans to utilize its Vietnam plant to the fullest, with its capacity retained even after the Indian battery pack plant goes into operation.

This is because demand will likely grow when Samsung Electronics adds another smartphone plant in Vietnam. Suppliers will also provide both the Vietnamese and Indian demand.

The Elec is South Korea’s No.1 tech news platform.