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According to Atakan Ozbek, ABI Research’s director of energy research, they are the likes of Hitachi, NEC and Toshiba – giant manufacturers of consumer electronics for the world, as well as the batteries that power them – as well as a few major companies that intentionally maintain a lower profile.
Ozbek characterises them as “nimble,” capitalising on their established position making the very devices that first-generation commercial MFCs will power. “Once they focus on something,” he said, “these companies can increase their development effort significantly, which our research is now confirming.
“They know all there is to know about their own products’ power demands,” Ozbek added. “They are showing rapid progress in making MFCs smaller and lighter, more powerful and reliable – critical not only for civilian use, but for the large and important military market.”
The Japanese do not have this field all to themselves, however. In the United States, MTI Micro Fuel Cells, Medis Technologies, and a few other firms are also active, the firm noted.
Next year, the major Japanese firms will release limited numbers of MFC-powered portable devices to test populations, ABI Research said. Later, high-end consumers will begin to adopt them, but mass-market acceptance will probably take until 2008 or later, the firm concluded.
