Lack of laptop batteries hurts manufacturers

Although the shortage of laptop batteries will be resolved in the third quarter of this year, its impact will still cause manufacturers to work moderately.

The LG Chem, South Korea plant fire, in March, caused a sharp drop in the global supply of lithium-ion batteries. The situation seems to deteriorate due to strong demand for laptops this year. A number of computer assemblers like Asustek Computer have announced that the company's laptop supply this year will be significantly affected.

" I think the lack of laptop batteries will have a significant impact, " said JT Wang, Acer president at an investment conference of the company two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the world's largest laptop battery manufacturer - Simplo Technology said that the shortage will be overcome in the third quarter, and manufacturers can be assured of business.

Asustek believes that the company's mini-laptops, the Asus Eee PC, won't reach its target this year. Asustek aims to sell 5 million Eee PCs but it seems that this plan is hard to achieve.

Quanta Computer, the world's largest contract maker, predicts that the lack of laptop batteries will have a bad effect because large companies often require a large amount of products when making contracts.