(Yicai) Aug. 7 -- Chinese electric car battery makers’ share of the world’s market expanded 3.2 percentage points in the first six months from the same period last year, as they continue to dominate global sales, according to the latest data.

The six biggest Chinese firms by shipments accounted for 64.9 percent of the global market in the six months ended June 30, according to a report released by South Korean market research firm SNE Research today.

Contemporary Amperex Technology, which has topped the world rankings for the past seven years, hiked its battery installed capacity by 30 percent in the first half year on year to 137.7 gigawatt hours, SNE said. This resulted in its market share climbing by 2.1 percentage points to 37.8 percent.

BYD ranked second with 57.5 GWh, a jump of 22 percent, and giving the Shenzhen-based company a market share of 15.8 percent, which was the same as a year ago, the report said. China’s CALB, EVE Energy, Guoxuan and Sunwoda ranked fifth, eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively, with market shares of 4.6 percent, 2.5 percent, 2.1 percent and 2.1 percent.

Three South Korean companies made the top ten, namely LG Energy Solution in third place, SK in fourth and Samsung SDI in sixth. Their battery installed capacities grew at a slower pace than the Chinese firms and so their market share contracted.

Panasonic was the only Japanese firm in the top 10, ranking seventh, and the only company to log a decline in installed capacity. The Osaka-based firm’s battery installed capacity plunged 25 percent year on year to 16.2 GWh and its market share shrank to 4.4 percent from 7.3 percent.

South Korean battery makers started to go global before their Chinese counterparts and they boast stronger management systems than Chinese firms, Wang Yikai, global partner and head of the China automotive and industrial product business at US consulting firm Kearney, told Yicai earlier. On the other hand, Chinese manufacturers have advantages in terms of the industrial chain, market size and costs.

The global installed capacity of electric car batteries surged 22 percent in the first half from a year earlier to 364.6 GWh, the report said.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor