China, Japan and South Korea power battery industry competition upgrade 2020 who can become the leader

(Original title: Who will be able to sit steadily on Diaoyutai in the 2020 competition in the battery industry in China, Japan and South Korea?)

Judging from the current industrial dynamics, European and American companies place more hopes on lithium batteries with higher energy densities (such as all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries) or next-generation lithium batteries (such as lithium-sulfur batteries and lithium-air batteries). It is hoped that in these battery technologies, the automobile battery and energy storage battery industry will be overturned. In the current generation of lithium battery technology, the trilateral pattern of China, Japan and South Korea will only consolidate and will not weaken, a sound industrial chain, a wealth of manufacturing experience and talent reserves make it difficult for other countries' companies to step in.

As far as the domestic market is concerned, with the approaching of the time node in 2020 and the acceleration of the subsidy, the “Foreign Investment Industry Guidance Catalogue (2017 Years)” issued jointly by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce has been encouraged to encourage foreign investment. Battery, power battery market competition will undoubtedly be upgraded again. The "China Electric Vehicle Centennial Forum 2018" closed at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing recently released this signal.

Increased voice of integration across the industry chain

On the theme summit titled “Optimizing the Battery Industry Chain and Assisting the Popularization of Electric Vehicles”, related companies in the battery industry chain of China, Japan and South Korea gathered together. Samsung SDI and Panasonic also gave keynote speeches respectively, introducing their areas in China’s battery industry. Product and market layout. Facing the "PPT shocks" of foreign advantageous enterprises, the domestic enterprises in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse obviously cannot sit down steadily.

Sun Xiaodong, vice president of Shanshan Co., Ltd., first poured cold water on everyone. He believes that the battery industry has rapidly grown up with the country's strong support. It is not an exaggeration to say that “de-emerging” is a good thing. However, with the adjustment of the subsidy policy, the industry will really face a big reshuffle.

Wang Wang, president of Fuenge Technology, pointed out that the problem is: “Industry chain integration is the key to the development of the power battery industry for China's new energy vehicles at this stage.” In addition, Betty Rui, chairman of the company, He Xueqin also launched an initiative to deepen cooperation in the entire industry chain. . He said that the deep integration and deep cooperation of an industrial chain started from the research and development of battery materials is the most fundamental means to ultimately produce differentiated and competitive electric vehicles.

The real gap between domestic and foreign battery products

The domestic Internet companies like to say that ecology, the so-called ecology, is whether you can have a complete industrial chain, rely on the linkage of the industrial chain, forming a symbiotic environment with the user, the opponent is excluded from the system.

As far as the power battery industry is concerned, LG Chemicals have significant advantages in the vertical layout of the industry chain. LG Chemicals has front-end materials, intermediate batteries, downstream Packs, supporting BMSs, and even the core components of motors and electric controls. In the field, there is a wide range of research and a wealth of products. This will allow vehicle manufacturers to like to cooperate with such components companies with strong integration capabilities as the best supplier; Samsung will be in the horizontal layout of the industry chain. In terms of advantages, the brand value has penetrated into each user level through different products and has formed a strong influence.

In contrast, domestic lithium battery companies are mostly limited to a certain aspect, and lack the layout of the entire industry chain. In the case of companies that make batteries, for example, they want to make the batteries well. The performance of the material that is trapped at the front end is not ideal. To control the quality, it is limited by the quality of the manufacturing equipment and personnel. If you want to use the batteries, you are restricted by BMS and Pack. The technical strength of the enterprise leads to poor product performance and reliability problems.

Of course, BYD is an alternative in the domestic lithium battery industry. It started from batteries, acquired qualified automotive companies, entered the automotive industry, and then deployed motors, electronic control, and semiconductors, forming a very complete industrial chain. However, not every company has such a development.

In the long run, the Sino-Japan-Korea dispute in the power battery industry is actually a comprehensive competition in the strength of the industrial chain in each country. Lithium battery companies in Japan and South Korea succeeded in their scale and promoted group operations. Japan is dominated by several companies such as Panasonic and Toshiba, with strong technical strength and good product quality. South Korea is dominated by Samsung SDI and LG Chemical. However, the concentration of lithium battery industry in China is very low. There are dozens of enterprises with a certain scale, and hundreds of lithium battery companies, large and small, cause serious resource fragmentation and disorderly market competition. This also makes China's lithium battery industry is always strong but not strong.

Secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Party Secretary and Minister Miao Wei also pointed out at the China Electric Vehicles Centenary Forum that there is not much difference between domestic high-end battery products and foreign countries, but the industry’s overall innovation capability is not strong enough. In terms of advanced technology research and development, product consistency, and international development, there are still significant gaps compared to multinational companies.

Batteries China Network believes that the global competitive power battery industry has been upgraded. Under the new round of China, Japan and South Korea competition, the advantage of highly concentrated resources is that they can close their fingers, clench their fists, and work hard to create a breakthrough. As far as the industry status is concerned, the deep integration of the entire industry chain is imperative. Otherwise, the gap between domestic and foreign battery products will increase.