Sony MPK-THC O-ring Maintenance Manual page 23

Lithium-ion batteries
Supporting Sony's mobile products
Demand for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries is
rapidly growing due to its use in a diverse range
of mobile devices, such as notebook PCs, cellular
phones, digital still cameras and video cameras.
With superior safety and high performance,
Sony's lithium-ion batteries have contributed to
making Sony's core mobile devices, such as the
digital still camera Cybershot, VAIO PCs and the
video camera Handycam, more slender and
compact. There is no doubt that these batteries
will play a greater role in Sony's strategy to dif-
ferentiate its mobile products by making them
even slimmer and lighter.
Aiming to increase sales of lithium-ion
batteries
Sony has secured firm positions in the markets
for both the liquid-electrolyte lithium-ion bat-
teries used in notebook PCs and the lithium-
ion polymer batteries used in cellular phones.
To reinforce its leading position in the note-
book PC battery market, Sony will continue to
increase the capacity and output of liquid-
electrolyte lithium-ion batteries. In 3G and
subsequent generations of the cellular phone
market, the goal is to increase sales by taking
advantage of the high capacity and light
weight of polymer batteries, which give them
the flexibility to fit any size of cellular phones.
Opportunities also exist for using lithium-ion
batteries in electric tools, shavers and other
products that currently use nickel metal hydride
batteries. Sony is currently making inroads into
these market segments.
Prismatic Cylindrical
liquid-electrolyte liquid-electrolyte
lithium-ion lithium-ion
battery battery
Optical disc components and digital tuners
Concentrate our energies on high-density,
high-speed recording technology for optical
disc components
Sony manufactures semiconductor lasers,
optical pickups and other components used in
CD and DVD players and recorders, PlayStation
2, disk drives for PCs, the video camera DVD
Handycam and other products. Sony is the
industry leader in the field of optical pickups for
audio-visual equipment. Currently, demand for
DVD optical pickups and semiconductor lasers is
increasing, due to the growing diffusion of DVD
players. To further expand this component
business, work is under way to commercialize
recordable dual-layer DVDs and an optical
pickup and semiconductor laser with 16x
recording speed. In addition, Sony has devel-
oped a three-wavelength optical pickup and
semiconductor laser that are compatible with
the Blu-ray Disc, DVD and CD formats.
Blu-ray Disc
The Blu-ray Disc format
The increase in high-definition broadcast pro-
grams is sparking demand for technologies
capable of recording outstanding picture and
sound quality. In response, Sony and eight
other companies signed an agreement in Febru-
ary 2002 and formed the Blu-ray Disc Founders
(BDF), to promote the rewritable Blu-ray Disc
standard. While promoting the Blu-ray Disc
standard with members of the computer, media
and other industries, the number of BDF mem-
bers has increased to 13*. To establish the Blu-
ray Disc standard and capitalize on business
opportunities, BDF has decided to establish the
Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), which solicits the
Lithium-ion
participation of companies from a wide range
polymer battery
of industries.
Quick to respond to the opportunities of
digital broadcasting
Sony has developed an ultra-compact digital
tuner that can receive terrestrial digital broad-
casts. The industry's smallest tuner measures
18mm x 14mm x 2mm, weighs only 1.5 grams
and is also low power consumption. Sony
plans to use this digital tuner in a variety of
mobile devices.
Sales of Sony Optical Pickups
(Million units)
200
150
100
50
1982 1985 1990 1995
*Sony Corporation, Dell Inc., Hitachi, Ltd., LG Electronics
Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Hewlett-
Packard Company, Pioneer Corporation, Royal Philips
Electronics, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sharp
Corporation, TDK Corporation, Thomson, Mitsubishi
Electric Corporation (As of March 18, 2004)
Key technologies underlying the Blu-ray Disc
system
Blu-ray Disc requires at least 27GB of storage
capacity to record two hours of high-definition
television programs. This is about six times the
storage capacity of a standard DVD. Yet the
Blu-ray Disc provides this massive capacity
within the 12cm diameter (and 1.2mm thick-
ness) of a CD or DVD. Listed on the following
page are some of the key technologies that
made this possible.
2000 2003
(FY)
21