Korean Media: China Still Dominates Electric Vehicle Batteries, Leaving South Korea Far Behind!

On July 31, South Korean media outlet Chosun Economic published an article stating that from January to May this year, global electric vehicle (EV) battery usage continued its steady upward trend, with Chinese companies performing strongly while South Korean firms saw their market share steadily shrink.

Data released by market research firm SNE Research shows that from January to May this year, the total battery usage for pure electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and hybrid electric vehicles worldwide reached approximately 469.2 GWh, a 16.3% increase compared to the same period last year.

In terms of individual companies, China’s CATL maintained its leading position with a battery usage volume of 188.4 GWh, up 22.9% year-on-year. Its market share stood at 40.2%, an increase of 2.2 percentage points.

BYD from China recorded a usage volume of 67.6 GWh, growing by 0.4% year-on-year, securing second place with a market share of 14.4%. LG Energy Solution ranked third with 41.0 GWh of battery usage, up 7.3% year-on-year. However, its market share declined from 9.5% last year to 8.7% this year.

Although some growth in EV sales helped boost South Korea's battery usage, limited expansion in market share is mainly attributed to the rapid development of Chinese enterprises and fluctuations in automaker demand. SK On, ranked sixth, saw its battery usage drop to 15.8 GWh, down 5.8% year-on-year, causing its market share to fall from 4.2% to 3.4%.

This decline was primarily due to slower EV sales in North America and Europe, as well as production adjustments for certain vehicle models.

Japan’s Panasonic ranked eighth with 15.1 GWh of battery usage, down 8.5% year-on-year, mainly because of shifts in Tesla’s model sales trends, which are its key customer. Among the top ten companies, seven were Chinese firms, whose combined market share rose by 2.1 percentage points year-on-year to reach 72.6%.

SNE Research analysis stated: “The global EV battery market is transitioning from a phase focused solely on volume expansion to one where policy, tariffs, price competition, and product portfolio restructuring are all playing concurrent roles. Going forward, the scale and pricing competitiveness of Chinese giants like CATL and BYD will compete against South Korea and Japan’s strengths in customer diversification, high-value batteries, energy storage systems, and local supply capabilities—these are expected to become key variables.”

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1872232602294284/

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