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People often release new products using older technology. Actually MOST new products have no new technology.
Amazon can sell the Kindle at near cost. No-one else can sensibly do that.
Also genuinely new technology is rare. Most "new technology" is really product development.
The primary lithium cell was in widespread use by the mid 1980s. The rechargeable Lithium ion cell was discovered/invented/developed in 1970s but not commercialised till the 1990s. NiCd and NiMH was still common to power laptops up till late 1990s. Common use NiCd dates from the 1940s and NiMH about 1990.
Wet Lead Acid rechargeable are from the middle of the 19th C and by 1932 plastic cased gel types were used in portable 2V valve radio sets, though glass & wet acid still used in table models till 1949.
The AA pen cell was developed before 1914 to make a fountain pen sized torch. The D cells date from 1890s.
Pocket valve radios using 1 torch cell and 1 x 45V pack in plastic cases existed in USA & Japan from mid 1950s. The transistor was too expensive till 1959, though I think Sony made a transistor set in 1956 or 1957. The first was a USA model in 1954.
The original IBM PC was almost entirely made from older electronic parts easy to order from a catalogue. It was very backward compared to the ACT Sirius 1 / Victor 9000. No HW clock, old 5.25" low capacity drives, text only low resolution screen. CGA and later EGA were optional already obsolete graphic standards.
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