It's not just a RAM crisis Panasonic says data center batteries are also selling out months in advance

Date:
Mon, 30 Mar 2026 20:15:00 +0000

Description:
Panasonic expands lithium-ion and supercapacitor production to meet future data center power needs, responding to AI infrastructure pressures worldwide.

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now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Panasonic claims AI expansion is rapidly pushing demand for data center backup batteries Customers have pre-committed 80% of Panasonics production capacity Panasonic is assessing its Kansas plant to support additional battery output for data centers The RAM crisis has been lingering for some time, showing no signs of easing, and it is now spreading into storage, with gaming PC makers warning that CPUs could be next .

While companies struggle to address the impact of this crisis on planning cycles, the pressure is now extending into less visible parts of the data center stack. Now, Panasonic has said demand for backup batteries is rising quickly, and it is largely driven by the expansion of AI infrastructure that requires stable, continuous power. Article continues below You may like We
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RAM crisis Batteries as critical infrastructure Panasonic says it has already allocated around 80% of its planned output to existing customers, leaving
only a limited share for new buyers attempting to scale systems.

Its batteries are designed to sit within server racks, providing short bursts of backup power that keep systems running during brief outages.

But this component now appears to be a key bottleneck, since uninterrupted power is essential to prevent costly downtime and protect critical AI workloads.

As organizations expand their data center operations and add more servers, supporting systems such as power backup are becoming harder to secure within predictable timelines. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners
or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms &
Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

This means buyers outside existing supply agreements could find themselves competing for a limited share of batteries, as rising AI infrastructure
demand strains production capacity.

To respond to rising demand, Panasonic plans to expand lithium-ion cell production in Japan by approximately three times and adapt parts of its automotive manufacturing lines to produce data center batteries.

It is also evaluating whether its Kansas plant can support additional output for data center applications. What to read next SK Group chairman's bleak warning on RAM crisis: it could last until 2030 HP admits RAM crisis means memory now consumes 35% of total cost of its PCs Another one bites the dust
in the RAM crisis, and it's getting ugly now

These moves reflect an effort to redirect capacity toward compute-related demand as AI systems continue to expand.

Alongside batteries, the company is working on supercapacitors as an alternative form of backup energy.

Unlike conventional capacitors that release energy almost instantly, supercapacitors store larger amounts and discharge more gradually.

Panasonic says these components will be used to absorb fluctuations in power load, with shipments expected to begin in its 2027 financial year.

The company expects battery sales tied to data centers to reach 800 billion, approximately $5 billion, by 2029, a figure that assumes continued growth in AI-related infrastructure.

However, meeting that demand depends on production scaling as planned, which remains uncertain given existing supply pressures.

The situation suggests that infrastructure expansion is encountering limits beyond processing hardware although how sustained these constraints will be, and whether supply can adjust in time, remains uncertain.

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