the patent war between Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) and China Innovation Airlines is escalating.
On May 23, the person in charge of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) disclosed to times finance that Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) had applied to the court to increase the amount of compensation and asked China Innovation airlines to compensate 518 million yuan. Previously, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) sued for five patents infringed by zhongchuangxin airlines, with a claim amount of 185 million yuan. In other words, it is equivalent to a direct increase of 1.8 times.
The result of the patent war has not been announced, but the competition between the industry champion and Tanhua has become increasingly fierce.
patent war upgrade
China Innovation Airlines is a dark horse in the power battery industry in recent years.
According to the data of China automotive power battery industry innovation alliance, the innovative aviation installed capacity in 2021 was 9.05gwh, ranking third in China after Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) and Byd Company Limited(002594) . Among the top five battery companies with installed capacity in China, China Innovation Airlines is also the only unlisted head battery company, with a valuation of more than 60 billion yuan.
China Innovation Airlines submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in March this year and plans to raise US $1.5 billion (about 9.5 billion yuan). It plans to officially land on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange within the year. If successful, it may become the largest IPO in Hong Kong this year.
In April, the loading volume of China Innovation Airlines ranked third among China Shipbuilding Industry Group Power Co.Ltd(600482) battery enterprises.
However, the lawsuit against Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) cast a shadow over its IPO process.
In July 2021, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) sued zhongchuangxin airlines for patent infringement Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) said that the patents involved included a number of patents such as positive pole piece and battery, explosion-proof device, current collecting component and battery, lithium-ion battery, power battery top cover structure and power battery, and the batteries suspected of patent infringement have been carried on tens of thousands of vehicles.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) requires China Innovation airlines to immediately stop infringing relevant patents, including but not limited to stopping manufacturing, selling or offering to sell relevant products applying the above patents; Pay RMB 185 million to Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) for suspected infringement of intellectual property rights (including patent fees payable during the temporary protection period of invention patents); Undertake the expenses of RMB 03 million for stopping intellectual property infringement as mentioned in Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) above.
At that time, China Innovation Airlines responded that the company insisted on independent research and development, and the products provided to customers were subject to a comprehensive risk investigation by a professional intellectual property team to make sure that its products did not infringe the intellectual property rights of others.
In its prospectus, China Innovation Airlines said that the lawsuit was unfounded and would not have a significant adverse impact on the group’s overall business, financial condition or operating results. The prospectus also disclosed: “the patent right of five patents held by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) has been applied to the State Intellectual Property Office for invalidity, and the application is now being reviewed by the State Intellectual Property Office.”
China Innovation Airlines fought back, but the result is unknown.
got up early in the morning and caught up with the late episode
Judging from the market share today, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) is the first, but judging from the qualifications, China Innovation Airlines is the predecessor.
The predecessor of AVIC innovation aviation is AVIC lithium battery, which was established in 2007. It is an old power battery enterprise established by AVIC group and its affiliated units, which is four years earlier than the birth of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) .
High energy density battery products displayed by China Innovation airlines. The picture is from the official website of China Innovation airlines
In the first half of 2009, Nanjing Iveco, the supplier of Shanghai World Expo tour floats, began bidding for power batteries for floats. At that time, China Innovation Airlines became the battery supplier of 24 floats. Since then, more car companies began to seek cooperation. In 2010, Sichuan Chengfei Integration Technology Corp.Ltd(002190) became the controlling shareholder through a fixed increase of 1 billion.
According to the survey summary of Sichuan Chengfei Integration Technology Corp.Ltd(002190) 2013-2015, at that time, the main customers of China Innovation airlines in the field of new energy vehicles were mostly bus manufacturers, such as Suzhou Jinlong, Zhongtong Bus Co.Ltd(000957) , Yutong, BAIC, Sichuan automobile, etc. the volume of a single customer was not large, and China Innovation Airlines did not have a single customer.
With the change and development of the new energy vehicle industry, China Innovation Airlines began to lag behind its peers.
In 2015, the Ministry of industry and Information Technology launched the first batch of power battery white list, and China Innovation Airlines did not appear in the fourth batch of white list until 2016, which lost the first mover advantage compared with the starting enterprise.
Since 2017, the subsidy policy for new energy vehicles has gradually increased the requirements for battery life mileage. Car enterprises prefer ternary lithium batteries with high energy density and long life. Zhongchuangxin airlines, which takes the lithium iron phosphate technology route, has lost the mainstream market and began to lose money.
In contrast, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) , due to the simultaneous promotion of two technical routes of lithium iron phosphate and lithium ternary, it successfully stood at the air outlet of the take-off of lithium ternary battery at that time. According to the statistics of lithium battery of Gaogong, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) has become the first in China Shipbuilding Industry Group Power Co.Ltd(600482) battery market since 2017. Meanwhile, by 2021, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) has been the world’s largest power battery enterprise for five consecutive years.
However, according to the Sichuan Chengfei Integration Technology Corp.Ltd(002190) annual report, China Innovation airlines lost 330 million yuan and 700 million yuan respectively from 2017 to 2018. It was not until Liu Jingyu, the former leader of Tianma microelectronics, became the chairman in 2018 that China Innovation Airlines ushered in a turnaround.
zhongchuangxin aviation “ningkou grabs food”
After taking office, Liu Jingyu focused on the passenger car market, made efforts to ternary lithium batteries, and grabbed customers by relying on price advantages. The prospectus shows that from 2019 to 2021, the average price of Zhongchuang aviation power battery is 0.87 yuan / wh, 0.64 yuan / wh and 0.65 yuan / wh respectively.
The price strategy has achieved immediate results. In three years, the compound annual growth rate of the sales volume of Zhongchuang aviation power battery has reached 139.7%, which is the only one of China’s top ten power battery enterprises with a growth rate of more than 100%.
Correspondingly, from 2019 to 2021, the operating revenue of China Innovation Airlines was 1.734 billion yuan, 2.825 billion yuan and 6.817 billion yuan respectively, with a compound annual growth rate of 98.28% and a net profit of – 156 million yuan, – 18 million yuan and 111 million yuan respectively. After experiencing continuous losses, innovation Airlines finally turned losses into profits in 2021.
In three years, zhongchuangxin airlines, which is divorced from the mainstream, rushed to the forefront of the industry. Therefore, Liu Jingyu was ridiculed as “the woman most feared by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) chairman Zeng Yuqun”.
So far, the competition between China Innovation airlines and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) has gradually become fierce.
GAC passenger car has always been a common customer of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) and China Innovation airlines, and the supply of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) has always far exceeded that of China Innovation airlines. However, the limited production capacity of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) made China Innovation Airlines find a breakthrough.
In 2017, GAC motor’s first electric vehicle ge3 was launched, with a monthly sales of up to more than 2000 units. However, due to insufficient battery supply, delivery was affected, and GAC began to support the second supplier. After long-term cooperation, GAC helped China Innovation Airlines establish a mass production and quality system. At present, China Innovation Airlines has become the first supplier of GAC new energy vehicles.
Take gac-e’an as an example. In the first half of 2020, among the 63 vehicle models declared by gac-e’an, the battery supplier of 30 models is Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) ; However, according to media reports, since the second half of the same year, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) has not appeared in the newly declared models of GAC ea’an.
China Innovation aviation product center displayed the cooperative models of many manufacturers.
The circle of friends between car companies of China Innovation Airlines is becoming wider and wider. GAC Toyota, GAC Honda, Wuling, geometric automobile and smart have successively signed fixed-point supply agreements with China Innovation airlines. Among the new forces of car making, Xiaopeng automobile has always been the customer of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) of , but in 2021, Xiaopeng’s order was also dug up by China Innovation airlines. This move of China Innovation airlines can be called “ningkou grabbing food”.
Facing the expanding market, production capacity has become a battleground for strategists. In June 2021, China Innovation airlines announced that its planned capacity in 2025 was 300 GWH. In November, it raised the target by 50%, and the planned capacity in 2025 will exceed 500 GWH. It seems that it intends to benchmark the planned capacity of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) 670gwh in 2025.
China Innovation Airlines said in its prospectus that the net funds raised from the IPO will be mainly used for the construction and expansion of multiple industrial base projects of power batteries and energy storage systems; Research and develop advanced technology to maintain the leading edge of technology; And for working capital and general corporate purposes.
According to Frost & Sullivan, a global consulting firm, the Chinese Shanxi Guoxin Energy Corporation Limited(600617) vehicle market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 23.6% from 2021 to 2026. Power battery is the core component of new energy vehicles. China is the largest power battery market in the world (based on the installed capacity of power battery). China’s power battery market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 37.6% from 2021 to 2026.
China Innovation Airlines is rushing for IPO, and other power battery enterprises are also recruiting and preparing enough food and grass. It can be predicted that a number of power battery enterprises will still compete with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) one after another.
