Global power battery companies have delivered half a year's results. According to data released by SNE Research, a South Korean battery market research institution, on August 3rd, the global installed capacity of power batteries in the first half of this year was 304.3 gigawatt hours (GWh), a year-on-year increase of 50.1%. Among them, Chinese companies accounted for over 60% of the market share.

Specifically, as the world's largest power battery supplier, CATL continues to maintain an absolute advantage in the power battery market. In the first six months of 2023, the total installed capacity of CATL batteries reached 112GWh, a year-on-year increase of 56.2%. Its market share increased by 1.4 percentage points compared to the same period last year to 36.8%, which is approximately equal to the total installed capacity of power batteries from second ranked BYD, third ranked LG New Energy, and fourth ranked Panasonic.

BYD followed closely behind, with a year-on-year increase of 102% in vehicle loading volume to 47.7GWh in the first half of the year, and its market share rising from 11.6% in the same period of 2022 to 15.7%. It fell behind South Korean LG New Energy by nearly 3 percentage points in the same period last year and surpassed the latter by 1.2 percentage points, ranking second.

LG New Energy's total installed capacity of power batteries from January to June was 44.1 GWh, a year-on-year increase of over 50%. Although its ranking dropped one place compared to the same period last year, its battery installation growth rate increased significantly by 46.3%, ranking third. The installed capacity of Panasonic in Japan reached 22.8GWh, a year-on-year increase of 39.2%, with a growth rate of 23.2% compared to the same period last year. However, its market share decreased from 8.1% to 7.5%, ranking fourth and still the only Japanese company among the top ten.

Among Chinese enterprises, Innovation Airlines, EVE Energy, Guoxuan High Tech, and Xinwangda ranked sixth, eighth, ninth, and tenth respectively. Compared with the same period last year, EVE Energy replaced Honeycomb Energy and entered the top ten list. Its power battery installation growth rate exceeded 150% year-on-year, ranking first in terms of growth rate.

In addition, among the top ten companies in terms of global power battery installation volume, Chinese companies still occupy six seats, with a total market share of 62.6%, an increase of nearly six percentage points compared to the same period last year, showing strong growth. For South Korean manufacturers, although the overall volume of battery installations has increased, their market share has declined. In June 2022, the global market share of LG New Energy, SK On, and Samsung SDI was only 23.9%, a decrease of 2.3 percentage points compared to the same period in 2022.

SNE Research analysis shows that CATL's ability to maintain a leading position in installed capacity of power batteries is inseparable from its outstanding performance in overseas markets. Especially in the European and North American markets, the growth of installed power batteries has doubled year-on-year. At present, CATL's power batteries have been installed on Tesla Model 3/Y, SAIC MG ZS, SAIC MG 4, GAC Aion Y, and NIO ET5 models.

According to the semi annual report released by CATL last week, its overseas battery business revenue reached 65.684 billion yuan in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 195%, higher than its overall revenue growth rate. Overseas business revenue has accounted for 35% of its total revenue. In terms of power batteries, CATL has established partnerships with car companies such as Tesla, BMW, Daimler, Stellantis, VW, Volvo, Ford, Hyundai, and Honda.

BYD has better competitiveness through the vertical integration of battery self supply and supply chain management. SNE Research pointed out that BYD has gained high popularity in the Chinese market with its price advantage. Recently, it has expanded its market share in Asia and Europe with its main model Atto 3 (yuan plus).

The growth momentum of the three Korean battery manufacturers is mainly due to the favorable sales of models equipped with their power batteries. Samsung SDI benefits from stable sales of BMW i4/7/X and Audi E-Tron; SK On relies on the continuous growth of Hyundai IONIC 5, Kia EV6, and Mercedes Benz EQA/B to achieve an increase in battery installation volume; LG New Energy achieved the highest growth rate among the three companies in South Korea, thanks to the favorable sales of models such as Tesla MODEL 3/Y, Volkswagen ID.3/4, and Ford Mustang Mach-E.

The reporter noticed that although overall, the global new installed capacity of power batteries still maintains a growth trend, it has decreased compared to the high growth rate of 76% in the first half of last year. In addition, SNE Research had predicted at the beginning of the year that the global installed capacity of power batteries would reach 749GWh in 2023, but looking at the first half of the year, the target completion rate is less than half. In addition, the growth rate of battery installation by Chinese power battery companies has also slowed down compared to last year. The growth rate of vehicle installation for CATL and BYD in the first half of the year has slowed down by about half compared to last year. From January to June last year, the battery loading growth rates of Xinwangda, Zhongchuang Aviation, and Guoxuan High tech were 651%, 163%, and 144%, respectively, while this year they are only 44.9%, 58.8%, and 17.8%, respectively.

According to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on August 3rd, China's lithium battery production exceeded 400 GWh in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of over 43%. The industry's revenue for lithium batteries reached 600 billion yuan in the first half of the year. In the lithium battery sector, the production of energy storage batteries exceeded 75GWh in the first half of the year, and the installed capacity of new energy vehicle power batteries was about 152GWh. The export value of lithium battery products increased by 69% year-on-year.