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| LG Energy Solution employees pose with one of the company's batteries. Courtesy of LG Energy Solution |
The combined global market share of South Korea's three major battery makers declined year-on-year in 2021 due largely to the growth of their Chinese rivals, data showed Monday.
The cumulative market share of LG Energy Solution (LGES), SK Innovation and Samsung SDI came to 30.4 percent, down 4.3 percentage points from the previous year, according to market tracker SNE Research.
LGES, which supplies electric vehicle batteries to Ford, Tesla and Volkswagen, retained second place for two straight years, but its market share retreated 3.1 percentage points to 20.3 percent.
SK On, the battery-making unit of SK Innovation, ranked fifth with a market share of 5.6 percent, up 0.1 of a percentage point from a year earlier. Samsung SDI's figures fell 1.3 percentage points to 4.5 percent, with its global ranking also coming down by one spot to sixth.
Chinese battery giant CATL retained the top spot with 32.6 percent, up 8 percentage points in the same period, backed by the strong growth in China's electric vehicle market. CATL has maintained the top spot since 2017.
Japan's Panasonic came third with 12.2 percent, followed by Chinese battery maker BYD with 8.8 percent.
"The global electric vehicle battery market continued to grow last year, led by Chinese companies," SNE Research said in a press release. "As Chinese companies are pushing for overseas expansions, this will likely act as a downside risk for Korean battery makers."
The cumulative amount of battery energy use from electric vehicles reached 296.8 gigawatt hours (GWh) globally in 2021, compared with 146.8 GWh the previous year, the report said. (Yonhap)
