South Korea's LG Chem Co., Samsung SDI Co. and SK Energy Co. have recently been rushing to increase their capital spending on making batteries for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs), in order to increase their shares in the rapidly growing global market.
"South Korean battery makers have been rapidly catching up with their Japanese counterparts," said the Japanese investment bank in a report on the battery industries in South Korea, China and Japan.
"LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Energy are highly competitive in terms of their group strength, decision-making speed and in-house material production, and we rate them the highest (among Northeast Asian manufacturers)," it said.
The investment bank said the major advantage for the South Korean companies over their Japanese and Chinese rivals is the fact that they belong to globally recognized conglomerates.
"Samsung and LG groups both have global operations that encompass a wide range of products, including PCs and mobile phones, and these groups have already established strong global brands and sales networks," it said.
The battery makers have been supplying batteries for their affiliate companies such as Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Display Co., which has boosted their sales.
According to Nomura Holdings, South Korea is the second-largest manufacturer of lithium batteries with a market share of over 40 percent in 2009. Japan is the front-runner and meets 45 percent of the world demand, with China standing at third place with the rest of the total market share.
"The market share of Korean companies has been rising sharply, and we see little sign of this trend slowing for the time being, given the pace of capacity expansion," it said.//Yonhap
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