Chinese battery equipment maker, Lyric Robot, has expanded into South Korea by establishing a branch office in Dongtan, Gyeonggi-do. This marks the third time a Chinese battery equipment maker has entered the Korean market, following Hangkekejie’s joint venture with Vitzro earlier this year and Leading Intelligence’s branch establishment in 2018.
Lyric Robot, which deals with equipment for the battery assembly process, including formation equipment, aims to target South Korean battery companies such as LG Energy Solutions, Samsung SDI, and SK On, and is currently in discussions regarding the supply of core battery equipment. The branch office is expected to be established this month.
Lyric Robot’s move into Korea is part of its strategy to establish joint ventures with domestic battery equipment makers and to secure customers in the European and North American markets. The Chinese battery equipment industry’s entry into Korea is set to increase with the establishment of Lyric Robot’s branch office. Two or three additional companies are reportedly in the process of considering branch office establishment, with the aim of producing battery equipment in Korea to benefit from the “Made in Korea” label.
The battery equipment market in Korea is currently dominated by Hangke Kerr, which won back-end process equipment orders from SK On’s Hungarian factory and China’s Yancheng 2 factory in 2021.
