Even Combined, Korea's Top 3 Battery Companies' Shipments in Q1 Fall Behind China's CATL

CATL Market Share 36.2%... Korea's Top 3 Battery Companies Hold 25.4%
"K-Battery Market Share Expected to Recover with New Car Launches"

In the global electric vehicle battery sales performance for the first quarter of this year, China's CATL was found to have taken an overwhelming first place. The shipment volume gap with the second place exceeded twice, and even when combining the market shares of the three Korean battery companies, it was significantly lower than CATL's.

According to energy market research firm SNE Research on the 10th, CATL of China ranked first with 75GWh in global electric vehicle battery sales performance in the first quarter of this year, followed by China's BYD with 30GWh in second place. The market shares based on shipment volume for the two companies are 36.2% and 14.5%, respectively.

Among Korean battery companies, LG Energy Solution recorded third place with 28GWh (13.5%), Samsung SDI was fourth with 15GWh (7.2%), and SK On ranked sixth with 9.5GWh (4.6%). Even when combining the market shares of these three domestic battery companies (25.4%), it is 10.8 percentage points lower than the first-place CATL's share.

Japan's Panasonic ranked fifth (10GWh) based on shipment volume, mainly selling cylindrical battery cells to Tesla. Prime Planet Energy & Solutions (PPES), a joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic Holdings, took over the prismatic batteries previously supplied by Panasonic, rising to tenth place (3.7GWh) overall.

The global electric vehicle battery sales performance by company in the first quarter of this year was 207.1GWh, worth $25.2 billion (approximately 34 trillion KRW).

SNE Research stated, "While the performances of the top 1 to 6 companies remain solid, companies ranked 7 to 10?CALB, EVE, Guoxuan, and PPES?are fiercely competing and increasing their market shares," adding, "Although the shipment volume share of the global top 10 companies slightly decreased compared to last year, they still account for over 90%."

SNE Research also noted, "Although the electric vehicle markets in Europe and the United States have shown weakness since the end of last year, China, the largest electric vehicle market, is leading the market with continuous high growth," and added, "Key factors slowing down major markets outside China include various countries' restrictions on China, insufficient charging infrastructure, limited model lineups, and subsidy reductions."

They continued, "Panasonic, a major supplier to Tesla in North America, has lowered its forecast for electric vehicle penetration in North America from 50% to 30%, showing signs of stepping back from its North America-centered strategy," and said, "The three Korean battery companies are expected to recover their market shares in the long term through local expansions and new vehicle launches in North America and Europe."