Dek: SNE Research says global EV battery use reached 71.9 GWh in January 2026, with CATL still No. 1, BYD still No. 2, and Korea’s three biggest battery makers down to a combined 12% share.
A fresh January scoreboard from SNE Research suggests the global EV battery race is tilting even further toward China. According to the market tracker, battery usage across EVs, plug-in hybrids, and hybrids reached 71.9 GWh in January 2026, up 10.7% year over year. The two biggest Chinese names stayed firmly in front: CATL held the global No. 1 position with 32.5 GWh, while BYD remained No. 2 with 9.9 GWh.
The more striking number may be what happened behind them. SNE said the combined global market share of LG Energy Solution, SK On, and Samsung SDI fell to 12.0%, down 4.3 percentage points from a year earlier. That does not prove the competitive map is settled. But it does show how hard it has become for Korean battery makers to defend share while Chinese groups keep scaling at home and abroad.
What the January data actually shows
The headline figures are straightforward. SNE said CATL’s January battery usage rose 25.7% year over year to 32.5 GWh, extending its lead over the rest of the field. BYD’s year-over-year change was -1.9%, leaving it at 9.9 GWh, but that was still enough to keep the company in second place globally.
The Korean trio moved in the opposite direction. SNE said LG Energy Solution fell 14.9% to 4.7 GWh, SK On dropped 21.3% to 2.3 GWh, and Samsung SDI declined 24.4% to 1.6 GWh. Put together, that left the three companies with just 12.0% of global battery usage for the month.
For English-language readers, the cleanest way to read this is not as a simple league table update. It is a snapshot of where pressure is building inside the global EV supply chain. Chinese battery makers are not just benefiting from a large home market. They are also turning that scale into a wider international footprint.
Why Korean makers came under pressure
SNE’s explanation matters here. The research firm said one major factor behind the Korean companies’ weaker showing was a 30.2% plunge in U.S. EV sales. That matters because the Korean battery suppliers have meaningful exposure to automakers that are heavily tied to the U.S. market.
In SNE’s breakdown, weaker demand hit several major customer relationships at once. Samsung SDI’s exposure to brands such as BMW, Audi, Rivian, and Land Rover was less helpful when U.S. demand softened and some legacy EV models remained sluggish. SK On faced pressure from slower sales at key partners including Ford and from broader weakness among U.S., European, and Korean automakers. LG Energy Solution also faced softer demand tied to Tesla and several U.S. legacy brands.
That does not mean the Korean battery business has suddenly collapsed. January is one month, not a final verdict on the year. But SNE’s figures do suggest that regional demand shocks are now being felt more sharply by battery suppliers whose customer mix is less anchored in China’s scale and faster-moving export push.
Why China is still pulling ahead
CATL’s January performance reflects breadth as much as size. SNE said the company continued to supply major Chinese automakers such as SERES, Xiaomi, Li Auto, and Geely, while also serving global groups including Tesla, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen. The firm said CATL saw notable installation growth across China, Europe, and other emerging markets outside the United States.
BYD’s story is more nuanced, but still strategically important. SNE said BYD’s January installations in China fell 23.4%, yet the company posted a 69.4% increase in Europe and a 97.6% increase in other regions. That matters because it suggests BYD’s battery footprint is no longer only a domestic-China story. Even when home-market momentum becomes uneven, overseas expansion can still support the company’s global position.
That is the bigger strategic point. China’s battery leaders increasingly look stronger not just because they sell more at home, but because they are pairing scale with export reach, cost competitiveness, and tighter integration across batteries and finished vehicles.
The market shift is no longer just about volume
SNE’s broader commentary makes this story more interesting than a one-month ranking chart. The firm said global EV sales in January were down 2.1% year over year even as battery usage rose 10.7%. In other words, battery demand held up better than vehicle sales.
According to SNE, that reflects a mix shift toward larger battery packs, higher vehicle segments, and longer driving ranges. It also suggests the next phase of competition will not be defined only by who can ship the cheapest EVs in the greatest volume.
The firm’s argument is that the industry is moving toward a more complex contest involving cost, performance, regulatory compliance, and supply-chain localization all at once. That framing helps explain why CATL and BYD still matter even beyond headline market-share numbers. Their advantage is not just manufacturing scale. It is the ability to stay competitive while the rules of the market become more fragmented by policy, trade barriers, and local sourcing demands.
Why this matters beyond the battery sector
This January battery ranking also says something broader about China’s EV ecosystem. The country’s leading players are no longer competing only through vehicle launches. They are increasingly shaping the battery stack, the charging stack, and the supply-chain stack at the same time.
That larger pattern is already visible in BYD Launches Blade Battery 2.0 With 1,500kW Flash Charging, which showed how BYD is tying battery chemistry to charging speed, and in BYD Unveils New Blade Battery and 20,000-Station Flash-Charge Push, which highlighted the infrastructure side of that strategy. It also connects with XPeng Launches G6 EREV in China as BEV-First Brands Embrace Dual-Powertrain Strategy, where the competitive fight is increasingly about how vehicle makers combine batteries, charging, and product positioning.
Seen in that context, the January SNE data is not just a battery-industry datapoint. It is a signal that China’s EV advantage is becoming more system-level and harder for rivals to challenge through one product cycle alone.
Bottom line
The safest reading of SNE’s January data is that China still holds the strongest position in the global EV battery race, and the gap may be widening in key segments. CATL remains the clear leader, BYD still holds the No. 2 spot, and the Korean big three have been pushed down to a combined 12.0% share.
That is not a final score for 2026. But it is a meaningful early sign that even in a softer and more policy-sensitive EV market, China’s battery leaders are proving harder to dislodge than many rivals would like.
