Samsung SDI said Wednesday that solid-state batteries will be the ultimate "game changer" for the humanoid robot era.
"Solid-state batteries are an innovative solution that guarantees absolute safety while being lightweight with high capacity, extending robot operating time to up to eight hours," said Hyun Jang-seok, Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing at Samsung SDI, speaking at The Battery Conference, a side event of InterBattery 2026, Korea's largest battery exhibition held at COEX in Seoul's Gangnam district.
Samsung SDI unveiled "SolidStack" as the new brand name for its solid-state batteries the previous day. "Samsung SDI holds unrivaled technology in the global industry with approximately 1,000 patent applications and 500 registered patents in the solid-state battery field," Hyun said. "We will complete mass production preparations for solid-state batteries by next year and establish battery technology standards in the global robot market."
Regarding the global robot market outlook, Hyun said demand for service robots—including humanoid, transportation, medical, and agricultural robots—is expected to quadruple from 500,000 units last year to 2.04 million units by 2030. The market is projected to grow at an annual average rate of 32%, with humanoid robots accounting for half of the total at one million units.
Hyun identified four core requirements for robot batteries: high energy density, fast charging, high power output, safety, and design flexibility. "We are focusing on advancing cylindrical batteries, flexible pack design, and thermal propagation prevention technology to achieve these goals," he said.
Samsung SDI is supplying cylindrical battery solutions incorporating cutting-edge technologies to multiple global robot manufacturers. These include high-nickel NCA (nickel-cobalt-aluminum) cathode materials, silicon-graphite composite (SCN) anodes, and high-power tabless structures, in addition to solid-state batteries.
"Samsung SDI has preemptively filed technology patents related to next-generation core materials," Hyun said. "We have built technological competitiveness through a robust patent portfolio, holding more than 700 patents in cylindrical battery components alone."
"The era of fully autonomous robots is opening in earnest with recent breakthrough advances in AI technology," Hyun added. "Samsung SDI will lead the global market with high-performance battery solutions optimized for robots."
