There is a story that is said to be widely circulated. According to Wang Xing, CEO of Meituan, the words "more gambling" are hung in the office of Zeng Yuqun, chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. The partner once asked Zeng Yuqun curiously, aren't Fujian people "willing to fight to win"? Zeng Yuqun's answer is quite simple: "Fighting alone is not enough, it is physical work, and gambling is mental work."
Although hearing is empty, seeing is believing. However, this businessman, who was born in Lankou, Ningde, Fujian, has really won the gambling in the field of power batteries in recent years.
Li Shufu, the actual controller of Geely Automobile, is no longer at the top of the list of the top 25 billionaires in China in 2020 released by Forbes China. This year, Zeng Yuqun topped the list with $654.38+0.58 billion, followed by Li Shufu and Wei Jianjun, the actual controller of Great Wall Motor, with $654.38+0.5 billion and $8 billion respectively.
Moreover, apart from Zeng Yuquan, contemporary Amperex Technology Co, Ltd. also led a delegation composed of three senior executives, namely Huang Shilin, Pei Zhenhua and Li Ping, whose net worth totaled 654.38+0.47 billion US dollars.
However, behind the bursting market value and soaring wealth, the performance and revenue of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. both declined, and the total liabilities continued to rise.
"If we are not the number one in the world, we have no value of existence."
In the past decades, Zeng Yuqun has always turned the impossible into the possible and the possible into the infinite. But when the sales of electric vehicles in Europe are trying to surpass China step by step, and rivals such as LG Chem are struggling to catch up, how many possibilities does Amperex Technology Limited have left?
How deep the foundation is, how high the wall is.
If you want to see the future, you must first understand the past.
1999, Zeng yuqun, Chen, shinco executive Liang shaokang and others set up new energy technology co., ltd. (Amperex? Technology? Limited (ATL) was incorporated in Hong Kong.
ATL company's positioning is to make flexible polymer flexible batteries. Since then, Zeng Yuquan has purchased the patent authorization of lithium polymer from Bell Laboratories. By improving the technical problem of mobile phone flexible battery expansion, in the development tide of domestic mobile phone industry after 2000, ATL's battery shipments reached 654.38+0 million, which stood out successfully.
Sharpen a sword every ten years. On 20 1 1 year, the market scale of new energy buses began to appear, but due to the restrictions of national laws and regulations at that time, foreign-funded enterprises could not produce power batteries (ATL was sold to Japanese enterprise TDK Group).
Zeng Yuquan decided to go further and completely separate the power battery team. In the same year, under the leadership of Zeng Yuqun and others, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. was established in Ningde, Fujian, Zeng Yuqun's hometown.
At this time, Ningde was just a little-known town, but it was Zeng Yuqun who used this name to push this town to the world.
At the beginning, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. was a joint venture, and ATL owned 15% equity. In 20 15, ATL transferred this 15% equity to Ningbo lianchuang. After the equity transfer is completed, ATL no longer holds the equity of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. directly or indirectly. Although the earliest registered capital was only 6,543,800 yuan, Contemporary Ampu Technology Co., Ltd., a newborn calf, jumped onto the historical stage of power batteries after only two "battles".
In 20 12, BMW wants to find a battery supplier partner in China for its new energy automobile brand "Zinuo". Although it has just been established, due to the relationship with ATL, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. has rich experience in lithium battery research and development; On the other hand, ATL's long-term experience in supplying Apple is very convincing to BMW.
Technical background+endorsement of high-end brands, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. won the BMW big order. Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. has benefited a lot from the cooperation with BMW. It is precisely because of BMW's strict technical requirements that Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. continuously improves the level of battery production and testing.
After cooperating with BMW, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. completed the whole process of research and development, design, development, certification and testing of power batteries, and accumulated experience and brand endorsement for its subsequent development. At that time, it was the only China enterprise that entered the power battery supply chain of multinational automobile enterprises.
Subsequently, the market quickly opened in Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd.. At the same time, on the "technical route", Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. also gained the upper hand.
At that time, some people considered that ternary lithium battery technology was difficult, the patent was controlled by Japan and South Korea, and lithium iron phosphate battery was easier to break through. Wang Chuanfu, founder of BYD, agrees with this view. "As long as BYD is a lithium iron phosphate battery for automobiles, it has a way out in the world and in China." BYD, which holds a large number of patents on lithium iron phosphate batteries, can easily lay down half of the country by lithium iron phosphate batteries.
Unfortunately, it backfired. Due to the change of subsidy policy, BYD has to conform to the market trend after losing its leading position. Zeng Yuqun, who took the lead in choosing ternary lithium batteries with high density, small size and poor stability, has seized the lead.
In just a few years, many domestic car companies such as SAIC, BAIC, Chang 'an, Geely, Great Wall and Dongfeng have established cooperative relations with them. According to the data of SNEResearch, from 20 17 to 20 19, the installed capacity of power batteries of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. ranked first in the world for three consecutive years. In August 2020, the installed capacity of global power batteries was10.8 gwh, and Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. ranked first in the world again with an installed capacity of 2.8GWh, with a market share of 25.9%.
However, just as he rode the dust, several incidents about the self-ignition of the star product NCM8 1 1 battery made contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. slightly depressed; At the same time, LG Chem has also brought great pressure to Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd., and its installed capacity is limited. In the past, lithium iron phosphate batteries were suppressed by ternary lithium batteries for a long time. Until March of this year, BYD launched a "blade battery" with higher endurance and safety, and the pattern of the battery market began to change subtly.
As the saying goes, how deep the foundation is, how high the wall is built. How high can the wall of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. be built?
The ups and downs of being chased
It is good to have an opponent, which can push you forward, but if the opponent is too strong, you don't know whether to be happy or worried.
According to the financial report, the old rival LG Chemical's sales in the third quarter were? 3. 14? Trillion won, what is the operating profit? 1,688? 1 100 million won (about RMB? 9.9? 100 million yuan), sales and operating profit have reached record highs.
LG Chem said that the best performance in history can be attributed to the introduction of new electric vehicles by major European customers, the increase in sales of cylindrical batteries and the expansion of the supply of IT products. It is reported that LG Chem is developing a new type of cylindrical battery. The new battery has five times the energy density and six times the power.
In September this year, LG Chem said it would separate the battery business. After the adoption of the extraordinary shareholders' meeting held on October 30th, 65438/KLOC-0, LG Chem will formally divide the battery business and set up a new company from February 30th, 65438. The name of the new company is tentatively set as "LG? Energy? Solutions "(LG Energy Solutions).
Facing the vigorous development of LG, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. did not give a perfect answer.
Its third-quarter financial report shows that the company's revenue in the third quarter reached 654.38+02.693 billion yuan, up 0.8% compared with the same period of last year, and the net profit attributable to shareholders reached 654.38+04.2 billion yuan, up 4.24% year-on-year. However, compared with 20 19, the revenue and profit growth rate of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. dropped significantly. In 20 19, the income growth rate of contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. was 54.6%, and the profit growth rate was 34%. In the third quarter financial report, the revenue growth rate of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. decreased by 53.8% to half of that in 20 19.
The main reason for the decline is that the domestic battery market has undergone tremendous changes in the past two years.
Affected by the new subsidy policy, the profitability of battery companies continued to decline. Secondly, due to the rising prices of upstream raw materials such as cobalt and lithium, the operating costs of battery enterprises have been further increased. According to the data of Hunting Cloud Network, due to the shortage of the market, the price of cobalt raw materials has increased by more than 230% from 20 15 to 20 18.
In addition, with LG, Samsung SDI, Panasonic and other well-known battery companies returning to the China market, the already tight upstream raw material supply is even more tense, which makes the competition among battery companies more intense.
In addition, since 20 14, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. has set up subsidiaries in Germany, France, the United States, Hong Kong and other countries and regions, and began to look for new business growth points in overseas markets. However, with the frequent efforts of LG and Samsung SDI, the expansion of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. in overseas markets has been hindered.
20 17 Zeng yuqun wrote in an internal letter: the ancients were born in sorrow and died in happiness, and those who have no far worries must have near worries. Negative short-sighted behavior will eventually lead to the failure of career and life, while collective short-sightedness will affect the progress of the company and eventually lead to the failure of the company.
So soon, contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. began to face the challenges that followed.
"Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. will mass-produce batteries that don't catch fire and only smoke at the end of the year." On September 29th, Zeng Yuqun said at the 2020 World New Energy Vehicle Conference that the battery will be used on some models by the end of the year. Zeng Yuqun said that this new type of battery will directly solve the pain point of incompatibility between high energy density and stability of the battery. "Even if one battery is on fire, the whole battery pack only smokes, which directly solves the pain point."
Although from the outside world, this is undoubtedly Zeng Yuqun's response to several battery spontaneous combustion incidents this year. But more importantly, with the domestic battery industry entering the knockout stage, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. has begun to seek a new way to break the ice by integrating the industrial chain and opening up new markets.
Need a new story
How long can Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. be strong?
This is no longer a question, but a required question. After all, car companies can never put all their eggs in the same basket. Feng Zeng, CEO of Volkswagen China, said that Volkswagen will consider multiple suppliers in the layout of new energy upstream. Although it holds a stake in Guo Xuan Hi-Tech, it is not the only battery supplier.
"The partnership between battery companies and car manufacturers is also changing. It is impossible for battery companies to control vehicle manufacturers. Vehicle manufacturers will also make batteries. They will not use the batteries of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. completely, or they may use some. " Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Federation, said. He believes that power batteries, like engines, will be selected by more and more car companies as core components for independent production in the future. In fact, more and more domestic car companies have begun to do so.
BMW also said that although it does not produce batteries, it needs to "master the core technology in its own hands", so it built its own battery research and development center in Munich and handed over the battery production to Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd., but the leading power is in its own hands.
Therefore, in recent years, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. has accelerated the pace of transformation. According to incomplete statistics of relevant media, since 20 18, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. has invested in 34 foreign enterprises, of which at least 6 are involved in energy storage systems, accounting for nearly one fifth. On an annual basis, the number of enterprises in the field of energy storage systems of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. is increasing year by year.
Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. 20 19 financial report shows that its main products include power battery system, energy storage system and lithium battery materials for new energy vehicles. The energy storage system products of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. include batteries, modules/boxes and battery cabinets, which can be used in the fields of power generation, transmission and distribution and electricity consumption. According to the financial report data, in 20 18 and 20 19, the income of energy storage system of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. accounted for about 0.6% and 1.3% of the total income of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. respectively.
In addition to the energy storage system that has been laid out, since 2020, automatic driving and separation of vehicle and electricity have become the new investment direction of contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd.
The investment of contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. in autonomous driving is biased towards commercial vehicles. For example, Henan Lefu Times New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., a joint venture company established in the first half of 2020, is mainly engaged in the research and development of electric unmanned mine cards and unmanned mine technology; Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. recently invested in winch technology, focusing on the network operation of self-driving trucks.
In terms of vehicle-electric separation, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. and Weilai Automobile and other shareholders jointly established Wuhan Weineng Battery Assets Co., Ltd. in August this year to explore the development of the business model of "vehicle-electric separation" in the new energy automobile industry.
Obviously, these are all important chips for Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. to start the game next. It is worth mentioning that, as a brother of GEM, the name of Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. once appeared in the prospectus of Ant Group.
It is reported that at that time, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. planned to invest 787 million yuan to participate in the strategic placement of Ant Group, accounting for about 0.037% of the shares of Ant Group. At the same time, Ant Group also defines Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. as "a large-scale enterprise or its subordinate enterprise with strategic cooperation relationship or long-term cooperation vision with the issuer". Although Ant Group was stopped only one foot away from the successful listing, there is already a connection between the two.
In July last year, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. and Ant Financial Co., Ltd. have cooperated in the field of vehicle and electricity separation, invested in Harrow, a subsidiary of Harrow Travel Service, and tested the two-wheeled vehicle market. At present, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. holds 265,438+0.68% of the shares in the company, making it the second largest shareholder.
In September this year, Ant Group initiated the establishment of Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance Company together with Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd., Yuyue Medical, Nanyang Commercial Bank, Guotai Shihua, Qian Fang Technology and China Huarong. Ant Group is the major shareholder, with a capital contribution of 4 billion yuan, holding 50%, and Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. holding 8%.
Undoubtedly, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. has begun to accelerate its business expansion, cooperate more with upstream and downstream industries, and take risks. Only in this way can we ensure its leading position in the market.
In the past, people will always recall that at the listing reception of contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. in June 2065438+2008, Zeng Yuqun sang Beyond's "Broad Sky" excitedly: "Catch up with the wind and rain, the fog is unclear, the sky is vast, and you and I can change."
After many great changes in the battery industry, Contemporary Ampere Technology Co., Ltd. can only find a place in the global competition faster than others, but in all the unknowns, no one knows how to usher in rapid growth.
Text /Pino
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.