Friday, September 16, 2011

Powermat Goes to Duracell - Guest Post by Kate Croston



Procter & Gamble's battery unit Duracell and Powermat have announced a joint venture, Duracell Powermat, which will develop and market wireless charging solutions using Powermat technology. The deal gives Powermat a 45% interest in the venture. Proctor & Gamble will retain a controlling 55% of the procedure. Using Powermat's proprietary inductive coupling charging technology, Duracell will co-develop and market wireless charging devices.

"What comes out of this partnership eventually, if we're successful, is people who buy a smartphone or tablet five, six years from now will expect wireless power built into it," said Powermat CEO Ran Poliakine.




Duracell currently markets its own line of wireless chargers under the brand name myGrid, using "an older technology," said Powermat president Daniel Schreiber. "That technology will be retired," he added, doubtlessly the myGrid product line will be retired with it. The contract puts Duracell in charge of all Powermat products for the consumer market. The undertaking will officially launch in early 2012, using Powermat's technology at first, Schrieber said.

IHS iSuppli has estimated that the worldwide market for wireless charging, at around $100 million in 2010, may reach $20 billion by 2015. "Powermat and P&G joining forces makes so much sense," said MarijanaVukicevic, senior principal analyst at iSuppli. "Adoption of wireless power is growing fast, and the marriage of a proven technology like Powermat's with the global marketing muscles of P&G promises to propel consumer adoption faster yet."

Schreiber agreed. "Procter & Gamble has been one of the most successful consumer product companies in the world over the last 30 years," he said. "When they looked at the next 30 years and tried to identify consumer demand, wireless charging was one technology that came out on top. They were the perfect partner to advance Powermat's vision of ubiquitous wireless power to reality."



Ran Poliakine, Powermat CEO, said in a statement: "Alkaline batteries, led by Duracell, really were one of the first wireless power sources to gain worldwide adoption by the consumer. The promise of wireless power is similarly transformational, and there is no partner more capable than Duracell -- and its parent, P&G."

"Several decades ago, Duracell was a pioneer in a new revolutionary product category, alkaline round cell batteries," said StassiAnastassov, Duracell president, in a statement. "In a not-too-distant future, we expect wireless power solutions to eliminate the hassle of multiple cords and chargers, creating a major growth opportunity. Innovation to create new solutions that touch and improve people's lives is what P&G-Duracell are all about. The joint venture between Duracell and Powermat puts us in the driver seat for this disruptive category creation."

Author Bio:

Kate Croston is a freelance writer, holds a bachelors degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She writes guest posts for different sites and loves contributing internet service related topics. Questions or comments can be sent to: katecroston.croston09 @ gmail.com.

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