Wireless Charging to be Commercialized in 3-5 Years: IEK

Taipei, Jan. 25, 2011 (CENS)--The Industrial Economics & Knowledge Center (IEK) of domestic Industrial Technology Research Institute recently predicted that the wireless charging technology will be introduced as commercial application over the next three to five years, including first application in mobile devices and electric vehicles (EVs).

The center said that several international big companies, such as Qualcomm, Nokia, Lite-On, HTC, MediaTek etc. are carefully watching related developments of such new technology.

The increasing popularity of mobile devices is boosting demand for computing capability and battery recharging. Industry people are not only working on newer and better batteries but also trying to bring wireless charging to mobile applications.

T.Y. Chao, senior analyst of IEK, pointed out that wireless charging was a hot topic in the just-ended Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January in the United States, and some exhibitors such as Powermat, eCouplerd, Texas Instrument already showcased some products.

Chao said that Powermat has signed a cooperation agreement with Qualcomm, a major mobile telecom chip supplier, and such tie-up is expected to drive vigorously development of wireless charging applications.

Wireless charging is any of several methods of charging batteries without the use of cables or AC adaptors. Wireless charging can be used for a wide variety of devices including cellphones, notebook PCs and MP3 players as well as larger objects, such as robots and electric cars. There are three methods of wireless charging: inductive charging, radio charging and resonance charging. Chao said both the transmitter and receiver ends of a wireless charging system need IC chips, creating many opportunities for Taiwan's IC design houses and makers.

At the 2011 CES, Chao said, wireless charging company Fulton Innovations demonstrated its EV wireless-charging technology with charging efficiency between 80% to 89%, compared with up to 96% of plug-in charging, which is, the analyst said, already close to commercial applications.