CATL and BYD together supplied more than half of the world's electric vehicle batteries through August 2026, according to SNE Research data released in October. CATL led with 333.0 GWh of installations and a 39.4% share, while BYD followed with 127.9 GWh and 15.1%.
Global EV battery usage reached 844.2 GWh in the first eight months of the year, up 19.7% from the same period in 2025. The figures cover battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and conventional hybrids, and they come from the South Korean market research firm's monthly tracking of installations across all major markets.
The story is not just scale. It is where the growth is coming from, and where it has stopped.
China's Seven Firms Now Hold 73.3% of the Market
Seven Chinese companies ranked in the global top ten and held a combined 73.3% share through August, up 3.6 percentage points from 69.7% a year earlier. CATL and BYD alone took 54.6%, unchanged from January through July and slightly below 54.8% a year earlier.
Rept Battero Energy posted the fastest growth in the top ten, with installations up 126.3% to 20.3 GWh, lifting its share from 1.3% to 2.4%. Gotion High-tech grew 47.1% to 41.5 GWh, and Eve Energy grew 53.9% to 29.5 GWh. CALB ranked fourth with 44.4 GWh, up 32.6% year-on-year. Svolt Energy, ninth at 22.0 GWh, grew 39.3% and lifted its share from 2.2% to 2.6%.
The numbers show a supplier base consolidating around Chinese firms, with mid-tier players taking share from the long tail rather than from CATL directly. Rept's surge in particular suggests that smaller Chinese suppliers are scaling into export markets, not just domestic ones. The combined effect is a market where Chinese firms hold roughly three quarters of global installations.
CATL Extends Its Lead While BYD Slips
CATL retained first place with 333.0 GWh of global battery installations through August, up 25.2% year-on-year and outpacing the overall market. Its global share rose to 39.4% from 37.7% a year earlier, though it fell 0.5 percentage points from the 39.9% recorded in January through July.
BYD ranked second with 127.9 GWh, up 6.2% year-on-year. Its share fell to 15.1% from 17.1% a year earlier, but exceeded the 14.7% recorded in January through July. The gap between the two leaders widened in absolute terms even as their combined share held steady.
The divergence reflects their business models. CATL sells to nearly every major automaker, while BYD primarily serves its own vehicle lineup. When BYD's vehicle sales slow, its battery installations slow with them.
Growth Is Uneven Across Regions
Battery installations grew 29.2% year-on-year in Europe, 16.9% in China, 76.0% in Asia excluding China, and 179.9% in South America. North America went the other way, falling 23.7% to 73.1 GWh.
SNE Research said the shortfall in US EV demand persisted, and some battery makers shifted production lines from EV batteries to energy storage systems. LG Energy Solution's North American installations fell 42.3% to 14.6 GWh, offsetting gains in Europe and Asia.
That split matters more than the headline growth rate. A 19.7% global average hides a market where half the world is accelerating and one large region is contracting. Automakers planning capacity for 2027 are reading two different markets at once.
South Korean Suppliers Are Losing Ground
LG Energy Solution ranked third with 68.3 GWh, up just 0.9% year-on-year, while its share fell from 9.6% to 8.1%. It still supplies Tesla, GM, Hyundai Motor Group, and Volkswagen, but its growth lagged well behind the overall market.
SK On was the only top-ten firm to record a decline, down 14.5% to 24.9 GWh, with its share shrinking from 4.1% to 2.9%. Panasonic, sixth at 29.7 GWh, grew 1.8% and saw its share fall from 4.1% to 3.5%.
The pattern is consistent: Korean and Japanese suppliers are holding volume but losing share, while Chinese firms capture the incremental demand. It's not clear that this will hold if US demand recovers, since Korean makers hold most of the North American capacity.
What This Means for Automakers
For carmakers, the supplier concentration is a procurement fact, not a forecast. CATL's 39.4% share means roughly four in ten EVs worldwide run on its cells, and BYD's vertical integration means its batteries rarely reach outside its own vehicles.
The concentration also cuts the other way. Automakers outside China have spent the last two years diversifying suppliers, and a 23.7% drop in North American installations shows how fragile that demand can be when policy or pricing shifts. A single region's contraction can undo a year of diversification planning.
Battery makers shifting lines to energy storage systems is a hedge, not a retreat. It keeps factories running while EV demand softens, but it also signals that capacity built for vehicles is being repurposed. That reallocation will shape pricing for both EVs and grid storage over the next two years.
Pricing and Competition Ahead
CATL's scale gives it leverage on raw material contracts, which feeds back into lower cell prices for its automaker customers. Smaller rivals like Rept and Svolt are growing fast but from a small base, and their cost structures are less certain at scale. The result is a market where the leader can price aggressively and still expand share.
For battery buyers, negotiating power is concentrated in one supplier's hands. For smaller suppliers, the window to break into top-tier programs is narrowing as automakers lock in long-term contracts with CATL and BYD.
See the IEA Global EV Outlook 2026 for the broader demand picture behind these installation figures.
The Forward Look
August alone saw 116.8 GWh of installations, up 14.3% year-on-year, with China's monthly installations reaching 79.0 GWh in August, up 5.9% from July. Year-on-year growth in China slowed, though, which SNE Research flagged as a cooling signal.
The open question for the rest of 2026 is whether North American installations recover enough to offset that slowdown, or whether the market's center of gravity shifts further toward Europe and South America. The next SNE Research release, covering January through September, will show which way the balance is tipping.
For more on this site's EV coverage, see our EV category.