Battery market in the United States declines : The overall batteries market has seen substantial growth since 2002, yet sales through FDM fell during 2002-2005. An expanding portable digital device market is the biggest new driver of battery sales, particularly MP3 players and digital cameras, both of which are high-drain devices. Another aspect of the market is the divide between higher-priced, new technology batteries, such as rechargeables, alkaline, or lithium, and value-priced "heavy duty" or "super heavy duty" batteries. Evidence of the effect of lower priced batteries is reflected in the 9% decline in dollar sales of batteries from 2002-2005 through FDM while unit sales increased 1%. This trend may be reduced by a price hike.
|
