The global power battery industry just witnessed its most dramatic reshuffling in years: Samsung SDI, one of South Korea's three battery champions, has fallen completely out of the top 10 rankings—while seven Chinese companies now collectively control more than 70% of the world market.
According to the latest Q1 2026 data released May 6 by SNE Research, global electric vehicle battery installations reached 244.6 GWh, growing 9.1% year-on-year. But against this backdrop of modest expansion, the league table has been turned upside down.
Samsung SDI, which has been a fixture in the top 10 since SNE began tracking, failed to make the cut for the first time. Taking its place at No. 10 is China's Sunwoda, which posted 5.5 GWh of installations and a 2.2% market share.
In total, seven Chinese battery manufacturers now occupy spots in the top 10: CATL, BYD, CALB, Gotion High-Tech, EVE Energy, SVOLT, and Sunwoda. Their combined Q1 installations reached 174.3 GWh, accounting for 71.4% of the global market—up from 67.5% a year earlier.
While CATL and BYD solidify their dominance, the real story of this quarter is the emergence of China's second-tier battery makers as genuine global forces:
- Gotion High-Tech overtook Panasonic to claim fifth place for the first time, with 10.2 GWh and 26.3% year-on-year growth;
- SVOLT recorded the fastest growth among all top 10 players at 33.6%, reaching 6.5 GWh;
- Sunwoda made its debut at No. 10, signaling that China's "middleweight" battery companies now have genuine global reach.
CATL, meanwhile, nearly crossed the 100 GWh threshold (99.5 GWh) and raised its global market share to an all-time high of 40.7% . To put that in perspective: CATL alone installed more batteries than the combined total of the second-through-ninth ranked companies.
By contrast, the combined market share of South Korea's three battery majors—LG Energy Solution, SK On, and Samsung SDI—shrank to just 15.6% in Q1 2026, marking the lowest collective figure in years.
- LG Energy Solution remained third, but its share slipped to 9.7%, and its installation gap with CATL widened dramatically;
- SK On fell to seventh place, with 9.0 GWh, down 10.4% year-on-year;
- Samsung SDI fell out of the top 10 entirely.
Three structural factors explain Samsung SDI's collapse:
- Overexposure to struggling Western EV markets. Samsung SDI's key customers include BMW, Rivian, and Stellantis—brands that have all seen slowing EV sales, particularly in Europe and North America. Rivian, in particular, reduced battery purchases by more than 30% year-on-year due to plant retooling and demand softness. In contrast, Chinese battery makers have diversified their customer base across both legacy automakers and emerging EV brands, making them more resilient.
- LFP latecomer penalty. Global LFP battery installations reached 128.1 GWh in Q1, up 20% year-on-year, capturing 56.8% of the market. Samsung SDI, which historically focused on nickel-rich NCM chemistry, still has no mass-produced LFP cell on the market—its LFP products remain in customer verification. As NCM battery installations contracted 2% globally, Samsung SDI's technology mismatch left it on the wrong side of the industry's biggest trend.
- Cost war in EVs hits high-cost producers. As global EV price competition intensifies, automakers are aggressively switching to lower-cost battery chemistries, including LFP and various blade battery designs. Chinese battery manufacturers benefit from a deep supply chain, lower material costs, and massive scale, giving them a structural cost advantage that Korean rivals struggle to match.
Panasonic of Japan retained a top-10 spot at No. 6, but with just 9.1 GWh of installations and a mere 3.7% market share—down nearly 5% from a year ago. With Japan having largely missed the LFP wave and solid-state batteries still years away from commercialization, Panasonic's global footprint continues to shrink.
To be sure, Samsung SDI is not standing still. In late April, the company reaffirmed its plan to accelerate all-solid-state battery development, aiming for mass production in the second half of 2027. But with commercial adoption of solid-state technology still 3–5 years away, the company faces a painful transition period during which its market share in mainstream EV batteries will likely shrink further.
The global power battery market has moved decisively from an era of "growth for everyone" to a stage of structural consolidation. China's dominance is no longer just about scale—it's about a full-stack advantage encompassing material systems, manufacturing efficiency, cost leadership, and global customer relationships. For Samsung SDI and other non-Chinese players, the fight to reclaim a seat at the top table may be the longest and hardest battle yet.
(Source: SNE Research Q1 2026 Data, Comprehensive Reporting)