Samsung has agreed to purchase the entire Magna Steyr battery division, including 264 employees and all its production and development sites. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But the purchase cements Samsung’s position as a major player in the market for electric and plug in vehicle batteries.
“The acquisition is a key strategic step for Samsung SDI to strengthen the competitiveness of our automotive battery business,” said Namseong Cho, President and CEO of Samsung SDI, in a released statement. “It will provide new momentum to expand our business and customer base.”
Samsung is already the supplier of batteries to BMW for its i3 and i8 cars. It also supplies batteries to Apple for many of its electronic products. It also will supply Tesla Motors with about 8% of its batteries and may play a role in the Tesla GigaFactory going up outside Reno, Nevada.
Magna Steyr may not be a household name, but it is a key supplier of automotive mechanical and electronic components throughout the world. In fact, it actually builds cars for Audi, Fiat, General Motors and Volkswagen in certain markets. And here is where it gets interesting.
It’s an open secret that Apple has begun work on a building an electric car of its own. Rumors in the industry suggest that Apple may be planning to have Magna Steyr actually build the forthcoming electric car in one of its many manufacturing locations. What could make more sense than to partner with a company that not only can build you an electric car but provide the battery for it as well?
Except now Magna Steyr doesn’t have a battery division any more. Is the sale of the Magna Steyr battery division to Samsung possibly the reason that Apple is pushing so hard to recruit senior staff from rival battery maker A123 Systems?
Samsung has also recently made a major investment in Seeo, a Silicone Valley battery maker that claims it has invented a battery that uses a proprietary non-flammable polymer electrolyte it calls “DryLyte,” Seeo say its battery is safer and smaller than traditional lithium-ion batteries but has the same performance regardless of outside conditions like temperature.
The challenge today is finding new technologies that will give the batteries of tomorrow greater energy density while taking up less space and costing less. The winning battery maker stands to earn billions in profits. Samsung’s announcement means that it plans to be that winner.
The post Samsung buys battery division from Magna Steyr appeared first on ecomento.com.
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