2016 Global Lithium-ion Battery Technology Innovation Leadership Award

2016

BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH

Contents Background and Company Performance ........................................................................ 7 Industry Challenges .............................................................................................. 7 Technology Attributes and Future Business Value of Enevate ..................................... 7 Conclusion........................................................................................................... 9 Significance of Technology Innovation ........................................................................ 10 Understanding Technology Innovation ........................................................................ 10 Key Benchmarking Criteria .................................................................................. 11 The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards ..................... 11 Research Methodology ........................................................................................ 11 Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices ................................................................................................................. 12 About Frost & Sullivan .............................................................................................. 13

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Background and Company Performance Industry Challenges Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are a key component in many consumer and mobile devices; as a result, the battery plays a major role in industrial design, product capability, features, and runtime for the end-user. While current anode materials used in the manufacture of Li-ion batteries (graphite) have reached their theoretical limits, the demand for higher performance, larger displays, faster connectivity, and increased functionality in smart phones and other consumer devices continues to increase, augmenting the need for higher energy density and faster charging solutions. In addition to technical limitations, Li-ion battery manufacturers face strong, multi-tier competition in the consumer space. Price compression is especially acute; the current cost of $700 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for lithium-ion batteries is high compared to other rechargeable technologies like lead acid and nickel cadmium. Among Li-ion battery manufacturers, the Chinese market will provide the strongest price competition, followed closely by the Indian market. Aside from lowering price points, Li-ion batteries need continuous focus on improving technology to boost viability for developing applications, including the mobile device, grid and renewable energy storage segment, and electric vehicle battery manufacturing. Enevate

Corporation

(Enevate)

revolutionary HD-Energy

®

is

tackling

these

challenges head-on,

offering

its

technology to significantly improve energy density over

conventional Li-ion batteries. The company’s patented silicon-based lithium-polymer batteries provide industry-leading charging capabilities, as well—offering a 90% charge in just 15 minutes.

Technology Attributes and Future Business Value of Enevate Enevate’s HD-Energy Battery

Headquartered in Irvine, California, United States (US), Enevate is an advanced rechargeable energy storage company focused on providing high-density solutions for

next-generation

technology

evolved

mobile from

devices.

Enevate’s

nano-carbon

research

conducted at the University of California, resulting in the company’s breakthrough HD-Energy solution. Unlike conventional Source: Enevate

Li-ion

batteries,

Enevate

provides

an

additional 35 to 50% runtime in smartphones, in addition to ultrafast charging.

In 2016, the company partnered with Sonim Technologies to feature Enevate’s HD-Energy batteries in Sonim’s ultra-rugged smartphones. According to Bob Plaschke, CEO of Sonim Technologies, Enevate is the ideal solution since his customers “work in harsh and © Frost & Sullivan 2016

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demanding industrial environments requiring extended periods of time away from a phone charger.” At present, the company has over 25 patents issued and pending globally, and investors include Mission Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Tsing Capital, Infinite Potential Technologies, China Electronics Corporation, Sumitomo, strategic corporate investors, and more. How It Works Unlike traditional Li-ion batteries with mainly graphite anodes, Enevate uses a silicondominant composite anode material in excess of 70% silicon. This revolutionary material offers ten times the capacity of graphite, in addition to industry-leading conductivity. Since it is compatible with the current Li-ion battery system, the material allows the creation and manufacture of thin, high energy-density Li-polymer batteries for thinner, sleeker, more powerful, and longer running mobile devices. Enevate’s energy density is approximately 25% higher than existing Li-ion battery products; competitors average between 100 to 170 Watt-hour per kilogram (Wh/kg), whereas Enevate’s energy density can reach 250 to over 300 Wh/kg. Enevate’s improved energy density represents a tremendous leap forward in the industry as rechargeable Li-ion batteries typically improve in energy density at only about 2 to 3% per year. “Enevate is using a different technical approach for silicon anodes that is truly unique and innovative to deliver both ultrafast charging and high energy density Li-ion batteries…their technology and process is practical, highly manufacturable, and can be sufficiently inexpensive for high-volume mobile devices.” Dr. John Goodenough, Inventor, Professor, and Recipient of the US National Medal of Science who helped invent the Li-ion battery Introducing a New Business Model Enevate outsources its anode and battery fabrication to specialized manufacturers located in the US and Asia. By incorporating a fab-light model—common in the semiconductor industry—and allocating it toward the Li-ion battery industry, the company provides powerful client benefits including customization and the ability to scale readily. The use of fab-light manufacturing enables the easy procurement of common, easily-accessible materials like cathodes and electrolyte; Enevate can better focus on manufacturing its specialized anode material to high-quality specifications. While its cell and battery pack manufacturing base is in Asia, Enevate bases much of its research and development in the US, where an entrepreneurial team of fewer than 50 employees focuses on elegant engineering solutions in a collaborative, creative, and technology-driven culture. The company also enjoys a strong board with industry leaders like Dr. John Goodenough, one of the pioneers of Li-ion battery technology; Steve Altman, former president and vicechairman of Qualcomm; and Mike Lazaridis, founder and former CEO and chairman of Blackberry. © Frost & Sullivan 2016

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Future Projections Enevate carefully investigates the market prior to product development and launch and has a history of accurately predicting consumer trends. In 2009, the company targeted its technology for use in consumer mobile devices. At the time, smartphones were only 16% of the entire cell phone market—market growth has since far exceeded the company’s expectations, providing wide opportunity. Currently, Enevate actively employs ingredient branding—e.g., “Enevate Inside”—to market its technology as a differentiator; the company seeks to make its name a synonym for industry-leading performance in the highdensity and fast charging battery market. The company is also in negotiations with several large, well-known

companies;

according to CEO

Robert

Rango, should

Enevate’s

technology appear in only a handful of their products, it would still create a major growth trajectory for Enevate due to their size and market share. At present, Enevate is a complete solution provider, including consideration for licensing of its anode technology and cell designs to key strategic customers and cell manufacturers to achieve the scale needed for large market segments.

Conclusion As consumers demand greater functionality and faster charging in their electronic devices, lithium-ion battery manufacturers must increase energy density correspondingly. Enevate Corporation’s revolutionary silicon-dominant composite anode material and process have created a disruptive and game-changing solution to this technically difficult problem, providing a major leap in performance while maximizing the use of existing cell production capabilities. With its commitment to cutting-edge innovation, technical excellence, and overall industry impact, Enevate Corporation earns Frost & Sullivan’s 2016 Technology Innovation Leadership Award in the global lithium-ion battery industry.

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Significance of Technology Innovation Ultimately, growth in any organization depends upon finding new ways to excite the market, and upon maintaining a long-term commitment to innovation. At its core, technology innovation or any other type of innovation can only be sustained with leadership in three key areas: understanding demand, nurturing the brand, and differentiating from the competition.

Understanding Technology Innovation Technology innovation begins with a spark of creativity that is systematically pursued, developed, and commercialized. That spark can result from a successful partnership, a productive in-house innovation group, or the mind of a singular individual. Regardless of the source, the success of any new technology is ultimately determined by its innovativeness and its impact on the business as a whole.

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Key Benchmarking Criteria For the Technology Innovation Award, Frost & Sullivan analysts independently evaluated two key factors—Technology Attributes and Future Business Value—according to the criteria identified below. Technology Attributes Criterion 1: Industry Impact Criterion 2: Product Impact Criterion 3: Scalability Criterion 4: Visionary Innovation Criterion 5: Application Diversity Future Business Value Criterion 1: Financial Performance Criterion 2: Customer Acquisition Criterion 3: Technology Licensing Criterion 4: Brand Loyalty Criterion 5: Human Capital

The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards Research Methodology Frost & Sullivan’s 360-degree research methodology

represents

the

360-DEGREE RESEARCH: SEEING ORDER IN THE CHAOS

analytical

rigor of our research process. It offers a 360-degree-view of industry challenges, trends, and issues by integrating all 7 of Frost & Sullivan's research methodologies. Too

often,

growth

companies

decisions

understanding

of

make

based

on

their

important a

narrow

environment,

leading to errors of both omission and commission. Successful growth strategies are founded on a thorough understanding of market, technical, economic, financial, customer, best practices, and demographic analyses. The integration of these research disciplines into the 360-degree research methodology

provides

an

evaluation

platform for benchmarking industry players and for identifying those performing at bestin-class levels.

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Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices Frost & Sullivan Awards follow a 10-step process to evaluate award candidates and assess their fit with select best practice criteria. The reputation and integrity of the Awards are based on close adherence to this process. STEP Monitor,

1 target, and screen

OBJECTIVE

KEY ACTIVITIES

OUTPUT

Identify award recipient candidates from around the globe

Conduct in-depth industry research Identify emerging sectors Scan multiple geographies

Pipeline of candidates who potentially meet all bestpractice criteria

Perform comprehensive, 360-degree research on all candidates in the pipeline

Interview thought leaders and industry practitioners Assess candidates’ fit with best-practice criteria Rank all candidates

Matrix positioning all candidates’ performance relative to one another

2

Perform 360-degree research

3

Invite thought leadership in best practices

Perform in-depth examination of all candidates

Confirm best-practice criteria Examine eligibility of all candidates Identify any information gaps

Detailed profiles of all ranked candidates

Initiate research

Conduct an unbiased evaluation of all candidate profiles

Brainstorm ranking options Invite multiple perspectives on candidates’ performance Update candidate profiles

Final prioritization of all eligible candidates and companion best-practice positioning paper

5

Assemble panel of industry experts

Present findings to an expert panel of industry thought leaders

Share findings Strengthen cases for candidate eligibility Prioritize candidates

Refined list of prioritized award candidates

6

Conduct global industry review

Build consensus on award candidates’ eligibility

Hold global team meeting to review all candidates Pressure-test fit with criteria Confirm inclusion of all eligible candidates

Final list of eligible award candidates, representing success stories worldwide

7

Perform quality check

Develop official award consideration materials

Perform final performance benchmarking activities Write nominations Perform quality review

High-quality, accurate, and creative presentation of nominees’ successes

8

Reconnect with panel of industry experts

Finalize the selection of the best-practice award recipient

Review analysis with panel Build consensus Select winner

Decision on which company performs best against all best-practice criteria

9

Communicate recognition

Inform award recipient of award recognition

Present award to the CEO Inspire the organization for continued success Celebrate the recipient’s performance

Announcement of award and plan for how recipient can use the award to enhance the brand

Upon licensing, company may share award news with stakeholders and customers

Coordinate media outreach Design a marketing plan Assess award’s role in future strategic planning

Widespread awareness of recipient’s award status among investors, media personnel, and employees

4 director review

10

Take strategic action

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About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best in class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages almost 50 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 31 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, pl ease visit http://www.frost.com.

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