From the specific production process, the production of lithium batteries can be divided into three major processes: cell manufacturing, module, and battery pack PACK. Cell manufacturing includes three major processes: electrode fabrication (front section), cell assembly (middle section), and cell activation testing (rear section). According to the application situation in the production process of lithium batteries, lithium battery equipment can be divided into front end equipment, middle end equipment, rear end equipment, and module/PACK equipment.

With the rapid development of new energy vehicles and energy storage, the shipment volume of lithium batteries is steadily increasing. According to data from the Starting Point Research Institute (SPIR), the global shipment volume of lithium batteries in 2022 reached 954GWh, a year-on-year increase of 59.3%. Among them, the shipment volume of lithium batteries in China reached 673.5GWh, a year-on-year increase of 109.4%. The strong downstream demand has driven global lithium battery companies to develop expansion plans, and a new round of expansion will be formed in the next 2-3 years, which will bring about a huge increase in equipment demand.

According to SPIR data, the global scale of lithium battery equipment in 2022 was 103.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.4%. With the gradual increase in demand for lithium batteries in downstream new energy vehicles and energy storage markets, the gradual landing of future new energy production capacity, and the upgrading of retired lithium battery equipment, the Starting Point Research Institute (SPIR) predicts that the global lithium battery equipment market size will reach 183.6 billion yuan by 2025, with the first stage equipment market size of 59.6 billion yuan, the middle stage equipment market size of 56.3 billion yuan, and the latter stage equipment market size of 49.6 billion yuan, The market size of modules and PACKs is 18.1 billion yuan.

As China's lithium-ion battery industry gradually leads the global development and drives the rapid development of China's lithium-ion equipment industry, lithium-ion equipment has basically completed domestic substitution. From the perspective of global competition in lithium battery equipment, the top five are all Chinese lithium battery equipment enterprises, while the rest are Japanese and Korean equipment enterprises. Due to small downstream demand, Japanese and Korean lithium battery equipment enterprises generally have small production capacity and scale.

According to SPIR data, the top three global lithium-ion devices in 2022 were Pioneer Intelligence, Yinghe Technology, and Liyuan Heng, with market share of 9.5%, 7.9%, and 3.5% respectively. Currently, the global competition pattern for lithium-ion devices is relatively scattered, with a CR5 of 27.5%.

With the global trend of comprehensive electrification of transportation and supporting energy storage, the demand for lithium batteries is rapidly increasing. As the penetration rate of new energy vehicles gradually increases and the energy storage market begins to explode, the power batteries of new energy vehicles are developing towards long endurance and high safety; Large capacity, long lifespan, and high cycling have become the trend of energy storage batteries, and higher requirements are being put forward for the performance of lithium batteries. As equipment for producing lithium batteries, higher requirements are also being put forward. The Starting Point Research Institute (SPIR) believes that global lithium-ion devices will exhibit the following development trends:

1. With years of deep cultivation and accumulation in the lithium battery industry, lithium equipment companies in China, Japan, and South Korea will still dominate the global competition pattern in terms of technology and customer channels. China's lithium battery equipment has basically completed domestic substitution, and going abroad has become a trend. It has moved from the "introduction" stage to the "going out" era, and the overseas market has become the second battlefield of competition for Chinese lithium battery equipment enterprises. At the same time, China's market share in the global lithium battery equipment market will continue to increase.

2. The second round of expansion of lithium battery production capacity has begun, and the second wave of dividends in the lithium battery equipment industry has arrived. At the same time, the intelligence, integration, and integration of lithium battery equipment have become the future development trend:

① Intelligence: With the gradual increase in the scale of lithium battery production, the original manual and semi-automatic production mode can no longer meet the requirements for efficiency, cost, yield, and other aspects of large-scale lithium battery production. Therefore, the intelligence of lithium battery equipment has become an inevitable trend. For example, introducing mobile robots such as AGV/AMR in the handling of lithium battery materials to improve handling efficiency and quality; Introducing the industrial internet into the lithium battery production line, building a digital lithium battery factory, achieving full traceability of the lithium battery production process, improving the production efficiency and management level of lithium battery enterprises, and gradually moving the lithium battery industry from "manufacturing" to "intelligent manufacturing".

② Integration: The production process of lithium batteries is complex and involves many processes, which can be roughly divided into three major stages: the front stage, the middle stage, and the rear stage. Each major stage can be divided into multiple production stages, so the corresponding equipment is diverse and requires the coordination of the front and rear process equipment, which puts forward high requirements for the precision and stability of each process equipment. Integration refers to the integration of the front and rear processes onto a single device, reducing intermediate processes and saving costs while improving product consistency and yield. For example, integrated cutting and stacking machines, integrated cutting and rolling machines, integrated rolling and slitting machines, and integrated drying and liquid injection machines will become trends in the future.

③ Integration: In the past, battery companies purchased equipment separately, with weak coordination between the front, middle, and rear devices. At the same time, it was difficult for different companies to cooperate in terms of equipment performance and parameters. At present, with the acceleration of production expansion by first and second tier battery enterprises, and high requirements for consistency and yield of lithium battery production, the original single machine delivery was separated to meet the current production requirements, and the trend of integrated delivery of lithium battery production has become a trend. Full line delivery can comprehensively design the entire factory, coordinate the cooperation of various production links, and maximize production efficiency and yield. Therefore, this requires high professional capabilities and product coverage for lithium battery equipment enterprises.

3. High precision, high efficiency, and high stability of lithium-ion devices have become a trend. On the one hand, as downstream terminals gradually improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries, and on the other hand, lithium-ion battery related technologies gradually mature, higher requirements are put forward for the accuracy, stability, production efficiency, and other aspects of lithium-ion equipment. For example, the winding machine may be a semi-automatic winding machine from 2006 to 2013, and the winding efficiency from 2014 to 2020 was only 3-5 PPM, while the current requirement is ≥ 6 PPM; In the past few years, the lamination equipment was at the forefront of technology with an efficiency of 0.8-1s/pcs/workstation, and currently requires a range of 0.4-0.5s/pcs/workstation; The liquid injection equipment requires a liquid injection accuracy of ± 2% from 2015 to 2018, while the current liquid injection accuracy requirement is ± 1%; Equipment stability is one of the key factors affecting battery yield, so equipment stability has become one of the main competitiveness of various enterprises.

4. The upstream and downstream linkage of the lithium battery equipment industry has been strengthened. With the gradual improvement of quality requirements for lithium batteries in terminals, and in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency, battery companies represented by Ningde Times and BYD have adopted joint innovation with equipment companies, jointly customizing research and development equipment, and developing production equipment suitable for themselves based on the company's process and technical characteristics.

5. Lithium battery equipment has strong compatibility and rapid adjustment of process parameters has gradually become a new requirement for industry development. In addition to lithium batteries, there are also new types of batteries such as sodium batteries, solid-state batteries, liquid flow batteries, and fuel cells. Each type of battery has varying production processes and equipment requirements. Among these new types of batteries, sodium batteries are expected to be the first to be mass-produced. Lithium devices can be shared as a whole, but adjustments need to be made to individual links and equipment parameters. Therefore, lithium equipment companies need to have the ability to quickly adjust their own processes to meet the needs of new application scenarios.