The Loss of Korean Enterprises and the Crisis of Japanese Enterprises

As we all know, after more than a decade of development, the global lithium-ion battery industry has basically formed a pattern of three-point world in China, Japan and Korea. China, South Korea, and Japan all have their own characteristics in the lithium-ion battery market competition. The three-point world has been maintained and will continue to be maintained for quite some time.

However, the world famous writer and great thinker Spencer Johnson said, "The only constant is change." In the three-point world, China, Japan and Korea are constantly changing.

For Chinese power battery companies, under the protection of policies, they are getting bigger and stronger. For example, in the 2016 global lithium battery sales rankings, 15 of the top 20 were occupied by Chinese companies; among the only 6 companies with annual sales of 10 billion Yuan, 3 of China, 2 in Korea and 1 in Japan. (For details, please click "Global lithium battery Sales TOP20: China's Exclusive 15 seats")

However, there is still one point to note: the strong rise of Chinese battery companies is because China is the world's largest new energy vehicle market (2016 China's electric vehicle brand production accounts for 50% of the world's total, and is still soaring), and there are policies Support. Overseas, it is still the world of Panasonic, LG Chem, and Samsung SDI, and their market share is as high as 76%.

Korean companies fall out of favor in the biggest market but still have strength

In order to seize the market, Korean companies LG and Samsung adopted a low-price strategy, and the price cuts fall "death." For example, as early as late October 2015, LG Chemical had released the wind before the completion ceremony of the Nanjing plant, claiming that they would realize the price of 1 Yuan / watt hour. This is quite destructive compared to the average price of 2 Yuan/ WH or more at that time.

The purpose of price cuts is to gain market share, but it also brings sustained losses. The market expects that the loss of LG and Samsung will exceed RMB 2 billion in 2016.

Not only that, but the Korean company has also lost its wife and lost its troops. In the middle of last year, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the (fourth batch) "Automobile power battery Industry Standard Conditions" corporate directory, Samsung SDI, LG Chemical, SK Innovation, Panasonic and other Japanese and Korean battery giants have not entered the catalog. At the end of last year, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the fifth batch of “New Energy Vehicle Promotion and Application Catalogue” in 2016, in which five new energy vehicles were removed from the official recommended catalogue. The five models of power batteries are from LG Chem, Samsung SDI, and General Motors.

Coupled with the "Sade" incident, on March 29 this year, South Korea's SK Innovation and Chinese companies established a new energy vehicle battery company in China - Beijing Electric Control Aisikai Technology Co., Ltd. announced that due to the reduction in order quantity The entire line was discontinued. At the same time, LG Chem also reported that its power battery plant in Nanjing was shut down, and the production line was basically idle. Samsung SDI's production line in Xi'an, China, has also been idle for several months. According to people familiar with the matter, the company decided to reconsider the expansion plan of China's Xi'an battery factory due to the "Sade" incident.

However, in the overseas market, LG Chem and Hyundai KIA, General Motors, Renault, Ford, Volkswagen and other international manufacturers will cooperate. The sales of Renault Zoe and Chevrolet Volt will help the company's power battery market share to reach the world's top level. . At present, there are more than ten of the world's top 20 auto brands and LG Chem has cooperation in power batteries, and the development potential is still not to be underestimated.

Samsung SDI has signed a long-term cooperation agreement with BMW. And in 2015, the company acquired MSBS, which is an international leader in battery project. Since then, Samsung SDI has built a complete business system from battery cells to battery packs. In 2016, the battery explosion of Samsung note7 caused worldwide concern, and its battery was manufactured by Samsung SDI. Samsung SDI lost many orders in the field of consumer lithium-ion battery, but it has little impact on the power battery business.

Japanese companies have thighs but still in crisis

At the time of the frustration of Korean companies, Japanese companies, especially Panasonic, have shown signs of rising. It is reported that Panasonic will establish a joint venture with a Chinese partner to produce the same battery as the 18650 ternary lithium-ion batteries used by Tesla. The factory will be located in Suzhou.

Panasonic hopes to have a larger share of the Chinese market.

In addition, a number of Japanese power battery suppliers have set up factories in China's coastal areas, such as Mitsubishi Chemical, Asahi Glass, Qingmei Chemical, Ube Industries, Mitsui Chemicals, JFE Chemicals, etc.

In particular, Matsushita announced the acquisition of Sanyo Electric in 2008 and became the world's largest supplier of lithium batteries. In the same year, Panasonic and Tesla cooperated for the first time. Tesla's first model Roadster used Panasonic 18650 lithium cobalt oxide battery. Since then, Panasonic has been the main power battery supplier of Tesla (the rest only LG Chem provides Roadster) replacement battery. In 2014, Panasonic announced a joint venture with Tesla to build a super battery factory Giga factory, and the relationship between the two goes further. Taking advantage of the development of Tesla, Panasonic has been the top spot for power battery manufacturers in recent years.

Panasonic is now holding the thigh of the United States Tesla, and the two works closely together. However, this is also a worry for Panasonic. If Tesla's supply chain is broken by Chinese companies one day, Panasonic batteries will be very dangerous because it is difficult to find alternative customers.

There is such a set of data on the market to explain the seriousness of the situation: in 2016, Sony lithium battery sales of 8 billion Yuan, Panasonic lithium battery sales of 23 billion Yuan, add up to 31 billion Yuan. Tesla sold 76,000 electric cars in 2016, averaging $35,000 per car to buy Panasonic batteries, which means that Tesla's battery for Panasonic reached US$2.66 billion in 2016, and the US dollar was converted into almost 18 billion Yuan RMB.

A Tesla purchase of Panasonic batteries exceeded half of the Japanese lithium battery industry orders.

In fact, it can be said now that if no Musk chooses Panasonic as a supplier, the Japanese lithium battery industry has already declined.

In general, the major companies in China, Japan and Korea that have mastered lithium battery technology are fighting in a cruel manner. Looking forward to the future, in the years before the withdrawal of China's support policies, Chinese battery companies are expected to achieve technological breakthroughs and reach international advanced levels, thus gradually entering the international supply chain like the original photovoltaic industry. The power battery of Japanese and Korean manufacturers will also be more competitive in the Chinese market with excellent performance and low price. At that time, Chinese manufacturers will face the fierce Japanese and Korean manufacturers.

The page contains the contents of the machine translation.