Korean Battery Makers See Market Share Fall in H1 Despite Solid Growth

Lithium-ion batteries used to power electric vehicles are on display during an international exhibition on battery and charging infrastructure at the KINTEX exhibition center in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, on June 27, 2023. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Three major South Korean battery makers saw their market share fall in the first half of the year from a year earlier despite solid growth, as bigger Chinese rivals further expanded their overseas foothold, a report said Thursday.

The combined market share of the three — LG Energy Solution Ltd. (LGES), Samsung SDI Co. and SK On Co. — came to 23.9 percent in the January-June period, compared with 26.1 percent from the previous year, according to the latest data from industry tracker SNE Research.

LGES came third with 14.5 percent, unchanged from a year earlier, after China’s CATL and BYD, whose combined share represented more than 52 percent.

SK On accounted for 5.2 percent, down from 6.8 percent, placing fifth. Samsung SDI ranked seventh with 4.1 percent, sliding from 4.8 percent from a year earlier.

The decline in the market share of the Korean companies is far from indicating a slowdown but has more to do with the relatively explosive growth of the Chinese players that is continuing on the back of robust domestic demand, SNE Research said.

All of the three Korean battery makers posted double-digit growth in the volume of the battery installments for the six months.

The volume of batteries from LGES installed in electric vehicles reached 44.1 gigawatt hours (GWh), up 50.3 percent from 29.3 GWh in the first half of 2022.

SK On logged 15.9 GWh, up 16.1 percent on-year from 13.7 GWh, while that of Samsung SDI grew 28.2 percent to 12.6 GWh from 9.8 GWh.

Strong sales of green cars equipped with the batteries made by the three battery companies helped fuel the growth, the report said.

LGES batteries are used in the Tesla Model 3 and Y, the Volkswagen ID 3 and 4, and Ford’s Mustang Mach-E.

SK On supplies for the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6 and Mercedes-Benz EQA and EQB.

Samsung SDI batteries are installed in the Rivian R1T and R1S pickup trucks, BMW i4, i7 and iX, and Audi E-Tron.

(Yonhap)