But more sizes mean more engineering. That's too much flexibility to pay for, at least for basic portable and wireless applications. Over time, the industry is going to gravitate toward certain sizes. Standardization actually brings greater choice, said one industry insider, expressing a commonly shared but perhaps counterintuitive argument. Whether we migrate to more standard cells is a tricky question to answer, Baggeley said.
Polymer gives almost too many sizes and options.
When it comes to future uses, most thoughts turn naturally to applications beyond small portable and wireless devices. A big carrot is automotive, PolyStor's Poreda said. But the cost has to come down. But polymer is probably in the cards. The goal is zero-emission power systems over the next 10 years.