LG Chem took the top spot in the global electric battery market during the January-September period with a 24.6 percent market share, SNE Research said on Oct. 30. The company’s battery shipment totaled 19.9 gigawatt (GWh) during the period.

Samsung SDI placed fourth, up one notch from a year earlier, with a market share of 6.2 percent (5.0 GWh), while SK Innovation came in sixth, three notches up, with a 4.4 percent share (3.5 GWh). The combined market share of the three Korean companies reached 35.1 percent, more than double the 16.2 percent a year ago.

While Korean battery makers fared well, Japanese and Chinese companies posted sluggish sales. China's CATL, which had the largest market share of 26.5 percent in the January-September period of 2019, saw its share dwindle to 23.7 percent in 2020. Japan's Panasonic, which came in second with 25.0 percent in 2019, ranked third with 19.5 percent.

Chinese and Japanese companies suffered slumps as demand for electric vehicles declined in China and the United States in the first half of 2020. The total amount of battery energy of electric vehicles registered around the world stood at 80.8 GWh in the January-September period of 2020,, down 1.3 percent from 81.9 GWh a year earlier.

Meanwhile, LG Chem held a shareholders' meeting on Oct. 30 and approved a plan to split off the battery business division and establish LG Energy Solution. The company plans to boost LG Energy Solution’s sales to 30 trillion won by 2024, 13 times larger than the current amount.