Date: 2026-08-14 hits: 102
This year, the explosive growth of new application scenarios such as power tools, robotics, AI data centers, low-altitude aircraft, and smart homes is driving the 21700 small cylindrical battery to become a new major product category.
Looking at the most significant growth market, AI data centers, the demand for small cylindrical batteries in BBUs alone will reach 390 million units in 2026 and is projected to reach 2.8 billion units in 2030.
However, traditional 21700 small cylindrical batteries can no longer meet the new demands for high power output, rapid recharging, quick response to fluctuations, and long-term stable operation.
In response, the industry consensus is to evolve towards all-tab technology.
On the one hand, this technology has comprehensive advantages such as low internal resistance, high rate capability, and high safety; on the other hand, all-tab technology has been first validated and commercially applied on large cylindrical batteries.
In 2026, domestic shipments of large cylindrical batteries exceeded 800 million units, with a year-on-year growth rate exceeding 110%; among them, all-tab large cylindrical batteries accounted for over 60%.
With mature technology and driven by diverse application scenarios, omni-tab technology has expanded from large cylindrical batteries to small cylindrical batteries.
Currently, the omni-tab 21700 battery market has formed a multi-tiered competitive landscape, with companies such as Xineng'an, EVE Energy, BAK, Penghui, Ruien, and Changsheng Innovation building differentiated barriers based on capacity, power, application scenarios, and mass production capabilities.
For battery companies, early product development merely secured their entry ticket to competition; the current bottleneck lies in capacity release. Demand is strong across multiple scenarios, but the effective supply of batteries is extremely scarce.
As Dr. Fan Wenguang, founder of Changsheng Innovation, stated, this is a blue ocean formed by structural mismatch.
Xineng'an proposes that the high-power battery market requires a systemic upgrade in battery products and industrialization.
Penghui Energy even stated at the 2026 High-Tech Lithium Battery Industry Summit that the omni-tab market will dominate the small cylindrical battery market for the next three years.
Entering 2026, the all-tab 21700 small cylindrical battery has reached a watershed moment, transitioning from technological preparation to production capacity implementation, with Xineng'an's strategic layout becoming more concrete.
Its all-tab JP small cylindrical battery achieved mass production immediately upon release as early as 2023, providing the industry with a typical example of how delivery capability can become a competitive barrier.
Compared to parameter comparisons among dozens of all-tab small cylindrical batteries, the new industry benchmark has become: whoever can master all aspects of all-tab 21700 batteries—from key materials and structural processes to high yield and high consistency manufacturing—and ultimately achieve stable mass production.
Three major growth sectors are accelerating the expansion of demand for all-tab 21700 batteries, leading to a multi-level "explosion." Before all-tab batteries became widespread for 21700 batteries, the largest market for traditional 21700 batteries was in new energy vehicles, where they were once the dedicated battery for the Tesla Model 3.
However, with the breakthrough in mass production technology for larger capacity and safer all-tab large cylindrical batteries, new energy vehicles have a better option, and 21700 batteries are facing the expansion of new market sectors.
All-tab batteries are also opening up new market opportunities for 21-series small cylindrical batteries.
Currently, the explosive demand for all-tab 21-series small cylindrical batteries mainly comes from three major growth markets: First, the upgrading of battery performance in traditional markets such as power tools, two-wheeled vehicles, home storage, and mobile outdoor power supplies.
Key players in this market segment include Xineng'an (P40 series), EVE Energy (21700 50PL), Ruien (5Ah ultra-high power 21700), and BAK (all-tab high-power small-capacity 21700).
Secondly, the greatest potential lies in the demand for AI data center BBU batteries.
As GPU power density increases, BBUs need to respond to power fluctuations within milliseconds. Analysts predict that by 2030, global demand for high-rate cylindrical batteries for BBUs will exceed 600 million units.
Companies currently operating in this sector include Xineng'an (SP series), Changsheng Innovation (TURBO series), and Penghui Energy (all-tab 21700).
Especially in terms of material selection, AI data centers, based on data storage security, prefer to use lithium iron phosphate all-tab small cylindrical batteries for BBUs. This category has now diversified into sub-sectors.
Among them, the Xineng'an SP25 is specifically designed for BBUs, using lithium iron phosphate material to ensure safety while also considering high-rate discharge, intrinsic safety, and high-temperature reliability, providing stable and continuous DC backup power for server A.
Finally, there is the market demand for future economic forms such as humanoid robots and the low-altitude economy with eVTOL and drones as the main scenarios. Related companies and products involved in these areas include Xineng'an (P series), Penghui Energy (all-tab 21700), and Haisida (21700-50PS).
This will create a positive cycle in the market. With the mass production issues resolved, the all-electrode 21700 will achieve large-scale cost reduction, further benefiting the future market where overall costs are high, including BBUs, robotics, and the low-altitude economy.
