The rechargeable lithium battery market will grow from $4.6 billion in 2006 to more than $6.3 billion by 2012 with a compound annual growth rate of 5.6%, according to BCC Research, based in Wellesley, Mass.

That growth will occur despite continued battery recalls throughout 2007 for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used primarily in laptop computers.

Battery cell and pack manufacturers are addressing the safety issue of rechargeable lithium batteries after numerous recalls over the past two years. In some cases laptops caught fire. New designs and better quality control are reducing the risk, according to BCC Research.

"Safety is now the biggest and most immediate issue impacting the secondary lithium battery market," says Donald Saxman, an analyst for BCC Research. In the longer term, material availability will ultimately determine how widely lithium batteries (especially large lithium batteries) will be used.

Steven Washio, vice president of Maxell's OEM Battery Products Group in Fair Lawn, N.J. says battery capacity and safety are the two most important issues with rechargeable lithiums. Increased capacity means longer run time for cell phones, laptops and other devices that use rechargeable lithiums.

"The ability to extend operational life or runtime is a critical component and goes hand in hand with the ability to maintain and/or improve upon the safety aspects of the cell," says Washio.

The more energy put into the cell, the greater the potential for a problem, he says. "The development stage has to be very closely tied to the ability to maintain or improve the safety aspects of the cell while you try to modify or improve upon the chemistry to give you a higher capacity," Washio adds.

The safety issue began in August 2006 with Sony laptop batteries. There were major recalls from portable product makers including Apple, Dell, Fujitsu, Hitachi, IBM, Lenovo, Panasonic, Sharp, Sony, Gateway, and Toshiba. The computer makers had to replace millions of batteries. More than 10 million units from multiple computer makers were recalled, says Saxman.

Although Sony experienced the biggest problems in terms of units recalled and of bad publicity, other battery makers have experienced similar issues, adds Saxman.

On top of the battery recalls in 2006, laptop manufacturers still faced several, although smaller, recalls this year. One of the most recent recalls occurred in August when Toshiba recalled notebook computer batteries due to fire hazard. These rechargeable lithium-ion batteries containing Sony cells impacted about 1,400 units, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Other U.S. CPSC recalls include Gateway's notebook computer battery recall, also due to fire hazard, in June. Earlier in the year, Acer America Corp. recalled notebook computer batteries due to previous fires. These rechargeable lithium-ion batteries contained Sony-made cells. About 27,000 units were impacted, which were manufactured in China and Taiwan.

Around the same time, Lenovo recalled its ThinkPad notebook PC lithium-ion extended life batteries due to fire hazard. The battery manufacturer is Sanyo Electric Co. and the batteries were manufactured in China, according to CPSC.

Saxman says there are a number of alternative lithium battery and battery chemistries under development that could reduce or eliminate the problem. These include noncobalt-based lithium-ion alternatives from companies such as Toshiba, A123Systems and Valence. A nonlithium alternative includes Altair Technologies' NanoSafe rechargeable, nano titanate battery.