In the first half of 2026, the installed capacity of power batteries for global electric vehicles (including battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and hybrid electric vehicles) reached 608.5 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 20.0%.
Following a period of rapid expansion, capacity races, and price adjustments, the power battery market continues to maintain double-digit growth. However, the structure of this growth has undergone significant changes: market divergence is intensifying, the overall share of Chinese manufacturers continues to expand, and the overall growth rate of Japanese and South Korean enterprises significantly lags behind the market average. Most of these Asian competitors face the pressure of increasing installed capacity but declining market share, with some experiencing a year-on-year decrease in installed capacity.
If the keyword for industry competition in recent years was 'capacity expansion,' then the keyword for 2026 is shifting towards scale efficiency, product portfolio, overseas localization, and supply chain compliance.
CATL Contributes Nearly Half of the Global New Installed Capacity
In the first half of 2025, the global installed capacity of EV power batteries was 507.1 GWh; in the same period of 2026, it increased to 608.5 GWh, adding 101.4 GWh over the year. Among them, CATL's installed capacity grew from 193.7 GWh to 242.7 GWh, an increase of 49 GWh, meaning that nearly half of the global increment was contributed solely by CATL.
CATL's market share also rose from 38.2% to 39.9%, a year-on-year increase of 1.7 percentage points. This shift is notable: despite the overall market growing by 20%, CATL still achieved a growth rate of 25.3%, indicating that its growth is not merely a passive result of industry expansion, but rather a continuous capture of additional market share.
CATL and BYD (Build Your Dream) together account for 54.3% of the global market, and the combined share of the top six global battery suppliers reaches 76.4%. Although there are still numerous participants in the global power battery market, core orders and high-quality customer resources remain highly concentrated. For lower-ranked enterprises, the future competitive threshold is no longer just about the ability to produce battery cells, but whether they can simultaneously meet requirements for cost, quality, delivery, overseas services, and regulatory compliance.
However, the trajectories of CATL and BYD have begun to diverge. BYD's installed capacity in the first half of the year was 87.7 GWh, with a year-on-year growth of only 1.6%. Its market share dropped from 17.0% to 14.4%, a decrease of 2.6 percentage points. While its installed scale remains firmly in second place globally, its growth rate is significantly lower than the market average.
This reflects two distinct development models: CATL mitigates customer risk by covering more automakers, more regions, and more application scenarios; whereas BYD's power battery business is largely influenced by its own vehicle sales and market structure. BYD is expanding its overseas sales and localized production while strengthening its Blade Battery and fast-charging technologies. However, whether it can transform its domestic 'vehicle-battery' integration advantage into supply capabilities for global third-party customers will be key to its market share trajectory in the next phase.
The Most Explosive Growth Comes from China's Second Tier
Besides CATL, CALB (China Aviation Lithium Battery), Gotion High-Tech, EVE Energy, and SVOLT have all achieved growth rates far above the market average.
CALB's installed capacity reached 31.2 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 39.5%; Gotion High-Tech reached 28.0 GWh, up 43.3% year-on-year; EVE Energy achieved 20.9 GWh with a growth rate of 51.7%, making it the fastest-growing among the top ten; SVOLT grew by 40.9% to 15.7 GWh. Sunwoda's installed capacity was 14.5 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 13.7%.
Including CATL and BYD, there are seven Chinese companies among the global top ten, with a combined installed capacity of approximately 440.7 GWh and a market share reaching 72.4%, a year-on-year increase of 1.5 percentage points.
This indicates that the advantages of Chinese battery enterprises are no longer confined to the two giants but are gradually forming a multi-tiered industrial cluster: CATL occupies the global leading position, BYD leverages its vehicle manufacturing to form a vertical integration advantage, and the second tier seeks breakthroughs through differentiated customers, segmented vehicle models, and overseas orders.
Supporting this collective expansion is, first and foremost, the scale of China's NEV (New Energy Vehicle) market, followed by the cost competitiveness brought by LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries, along with rapid product iteration and mass production response speeds. From the perspective of industrial evolution trends, as LFP solutions expand from the Chinese market to diverse overseas application scenarios such as passenger and commercial vehicles, Chinese enterprises' globalization is gradually extending from the mere export of battery products to the coordinated export of manufacturing technologies and supply chain capabilities.
The Issue for Japanese and South Korean Enterprises Is Not a Lack of Growth, but Not Running Fast Enough
LG Energy Solution ranked third globally with 52.6 GWh, a year-on-year growth of 8.4%. Although it continues to supply customers such as Tesla, Hyundai Motor Group, General Motors, and Volkswagen, its share dropped from 9.6% to 8.6% due to a growth rate lower than the global market.
Panasonic's installed capacity was 22.7 GWh, a year-on-year increase of 10.2%, with its market share dropping from 4.1% to 3.7%. SK On is the only manufacturer among the top ten to see a decline in installed capacity; its first-half installed capacity was 19.0 GWh, a year-on-year decrease of 6.7%, and its share fell from 4.0% to 3.1%.
The situations of these three Japanese and South Korean enterprises share commonalities: their customers are mainly concentrated among traditional automakers in North America and Europe, where EV sales rhythms, model launches, and production plans experience significant fluctuations. When major customers adjust production volumes or delay projects, the capacity utilization rate and installed performance of battery suppliers are quickly affected.
Therefore, the current growth pressure faced by Japanese and South Korean enterprises mainly stems from concentrated customer structures, regional market demand fluctuations, and constraints in the pace of product route adaptation. Even if LG Energy Solution maintains installed capacity growth, it is difficult to offset the share pressure brought by the faster expansion of Chinese competitors; Panasonic is highly dependent on Tesla, making it particularly crucial whether the capacity of next-generation cylindrical batteries can ramp up smoothly; SK On needs to stabilize operations at its North American production bases and drive a recovery in installed capacity by supporting more new vehicle models.
The Focus of Competition Is Shifting from 'Capacity' to Four Capabilities
608.5 GWh is not just a growth figure; it also marks a shift in the logic of industry competition.
The first is regional manufacturing efficiency. Building overseas factories does not equal completing globalization; enterprises must also solve issues related to capacity ramp-up, yield rates, labor costs, and local supply chain support. Whoever can stabilize the operation of overseas factories faster will be the one to convert orders into profits and cash flow.
The second is the customer portfolio. Over-reliance on a single automaker or a single region will amplify terminal sales fluctuations. More resilient enterprises in the future need to cover different countries, brands, vehicle models, and powertrain routes simultaneously.
The third is product structure. LFP is expanding its application boundaries, high-nickel batteries still serve some high-performance models, and next-generation cylindrical batteries and fast-charging technologies have become new directions for competition.
Enterprises need to establish more flexible combinations among cost, safety, energy density, and charging efficiency.
The fourth is compliance and traceability capabilities. Policy and demand uncertainties in the North American market persist, while Europe continues to elevate localization requirements and supply chain traceability standards, making specific preparations for the EU Battery Passport and supply chain data management. In the future, whether a battery can enter the global market depends not only on its performance and price but also on whether its raw material sources, carbon footprint, and production data can be verified.
It should be noted that SNE Research tracks the battery installed capacity of registered EVs, PHEVs, and HEVs across 80 countries and regions, which is not equivalent to battery enterprises' shipment volumes, capacity, or profitability levels. However, as a terminal application indicator, it clearly reveals the shift in industrial power: global power battery demand is still growing, and the growth dividends are evidently tilting towards leading Chinese enterprises equipped with scale, cost, customer, and global operational capabilities.
The true signal from the first half of 2026 is not that 'Chinese enterprises are already leading,' but that this leadership is evolving from a single-enterprise advantage into a platform-based advantage covering industry leaders, the second tier, technology routes, and supply chain systems. In the next phase, the core determining the long-term landscape has shifted from mere capacity scale to the global installed capacity conversion capability under lower costs, higher efficiency, and stronger compliance capabilities. (Cover image source: Sheyitu)