(Click on image to Enlarge)

South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI is planning to apply to its smartphone battery production the stacking method it currently uses for the production of electric vehicle batteries.

The method replaces the jellyroll method in which the battery materials were rolled. Applying the stacking method instead has allowed Samsung SDI to increase the energy density of its EV batteries, sources said.

Samsung SDI is now working to apply this same technique to batteries it manufactures aimed at smartphones and tablets.

This pilot line is strictly for testing and mass production will happen at the M Line at Cheonan, they added. Four of the 12 lines at M Line will be modified.

The report suggests that the move by Samsung SDI is to win orders from Apple. Currently Apple uses a multi-cell structure where it connects multiple batteries to boost the battery capacity of its iPhones. These are L-shaped. This is done due to the current limitations of increasing the energy density of small batteries.

Offering batteries with higher energy density would allow Apple to avoid this current design and make smartphones lighter with more batteries.

Apple’s main supplier of batteries at present is China’s Amperex Technology Limited; while LG Energy Solution had also supplied some cells in the past. Samsung SDI had supplied batteries for MacBooks and iPads in the past but is yet to win a deal for iPhones.

The one issue that Samsung has to overcome in their new battery design is to keep it from swelling with extended smartphone use. For more, read the full report from The Elec's Stan Lee.