Power banks will reportedly die out in a few years. So says the head of Anker, who manufactures them himself

Almost everyone today has at least one power bank at home, and often a few older ones lying around in a drawer. But their biggest manufacturer suggests that this era is slowly coming to an end. Steven Yang, founder and CEO of the Anker brand, believes that power banks could die out in a few years, just as MP3 players or CDs disappeared from the market.

Why is the person who sells them saying this?

The head of Anker did not base his estimate on any new technology – for example, that phones will soon last a week or charge in a few seconds. He relies on simple observation: consumer electronics have a short lifespan. According to him, usually only about ten years pass between the first purchase and the moment a product stops being sold. And power banks, he believes, will never become a multi-hundred-billion category.

As examples, he cited MP3 players, cassette players, and CD players – things that almost everyone once owned and today you cannot buy in a regular store. It is worth emphasizing that Steven Yang did not name any specific technical trigger. His reasoning is based purely on how quickly generations of appliances succeed each other.

Power banks no longer sustain Anker as they once did

Moreover, these words did not come from someone indifferent to the industry. Anker generated approximately 30.5 billion yuan in revenue last year, up 23 percent year-on-year, with charging and energy storage accounting for roughly half of these revenues. However, classic power banks are no longer the main driver of the business.

Power banks will reportedly die out in a few years. So says the head of Anker, who manufactures them himself Adam Kurfürst News Adam Kurfürst News

The company also admitted that it overdid it with them. In 2024 alone, it offered around a hundred different power bank models, which affected quality. The manufacturer therefore plans to cut the number of models by roughly half to two-thirds.

But before we retire power banks, it’s worth adding that this is one CEO’s speculation, not an announced end to production. As long as phones don’t last several days on a single charge or until a fast charger is truly on every corner, a backup battery in your backpack will likely remain useful.

Would you believe that power banks will truly disappear from our bags in a few years?

Sources: ITHome, Gizmochina