Amazon Basics Batteries: Here's Who Makes Them And Where They're Manufactured

Amazon Basics batteries are convenient, affordable, and one of the best battery brands. It seems like they're always on sale, and they surely sell to millions of people when a single product can have nearly 900,000 reviews. Despite their popularity and marketability, the packaging is vague about who manufactures them. Their country of origin varies, depending on the battery type and the production batch. They come from anywhere, including China, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. In some cases, the packaging claims the country of origin to be "Indonesia, using Japanese technology." 

Digging a bit deeper into the available information reveals that a Japanese industrial giant, FDK Corporation (Fuji Denki Kagaku), is partly behind Amazon's Basics batteries (via OneZero). This corporation was established as Tokyo Denki Kagaku Kogyo in 1950 and is now a subsidiary of Fujitsu. That means Amazon provides the branding and retail access, but part of the actual batteries are made by FDK and Fujitsu in factories in different locations. The next time you buy a bargain pack of Amazon Basics batteries, you're not buying just an Amazon product. In fact, it's an item supported by a complex global supply chain and Japanese know-how.

Today, the FDK Corporation sells, among other electronics, alkaline, lithium, and nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) cells under the strict "made in Japan" standards. However, their production line factories are operated not only in Japan, but also abroad. One of the key FDK factories that produces batteries for Amazon is located in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia.

Product packaging for these batteries bought from Amazon lists a variety of countries of origin. The result is a manufacturing web spread across multiple nations, as it's common in modern global supply chains, to improve logistics and provide better delivery times of their products to customers. By signing a manufacturing contract with companies like Fujitsu, Amazon can sell products using its private brand without having to build a factory, hire workers, and deal with all the technical and legal details of running an actual production facility of its own. Doing this for multiple products allowed Amazon to expand its Basics catalogue, offering multiple types of batteries and electronics without owning the infrastructure needed to produce them.

The upside of buying the Amazon Basics batteries is that they might be produced by FDK, a company with a very long tradition in battery-making. This company has credibility and experience in battery engineering. The company claims that their NiMH products "resist over-charge and over-discharge.

Independent testing of Amazon Basics alkaline packs reports good performance, but the claimed three-year shelf life might be an exaggeration. The analysis of rechargeable Amazon Basics batteries found that they don't match the stamina of premium brands such as Eneloop (also made by FDK) or Duracell. Nevertheless, these batteries represent a good value for the price if you intend to use them in everyday devices with low to normal usage, like TV remotes. Their performance in devices such as drones, camera flashes, or lights is underwhelming. If you need batteries to power high-performance devices that demand long shelf-life and ultra-consistent performance, consider investing in a premium brand instead.