Korean Q2 2026 — Three Improved Quarters, Three Separate Explanations
LGES, Samsung SDI, and SK On all reported improved Q2 results, which invites the market-turn read. The disclosures don't support it. LGES narrowed its ex-incentive loss by KRW 270B and converted only KRW 25B of cash against KRW 113.3B of reported profit. Samsung SDI beat its own profitability timeline while leaving AMPC and tariff refunds unallocated to the battery segment. SK On swung KRW 1.17T QoQ on three named drivers, none of them sized. Both companies disclosing cash flow converted under 10% of reported operating profit to cash.
Korean Q2 2026 — Three Improved Quarters, Three Separate Explanations
LGES, Samsung SDI, and SK On all reported improved Q2 results, which invites the market-turn read. The disclosures don't support it. LGES narrowed its ex-incentive loss by KRW 270B and converted only KRW 25B of cash against KRW 113.3B of reported profit. Samsung SDI beat its own profitability timeline while leaving AMPC and tariff refunds unallocated to the battery segment. SK On swung KRW 1.17T QoQ on three named drivers, none of them sized. Both companies disclosing cash flow converted under 10% of reported operating profit to cash.
The EV Volume Story
The non-China EV battery market grew 26.3% in H1 2026 to 269.0 GWh (SNE Research). Korean makers' combined installations fell 6.3% to 74.3 GWh, compressing share from 37.2% to 27.6%. At prior-year share they would have shipped roughly 100 GWh. The approximately 26 GWh gap went to Chinese suppliers — CATL alone installed 90.5 GWh outside China, exceeding the Korean three combined.
Samsung SDI took the sharpest hit: -29% to 10.5 GWh, share halving from 7.0% to 3.9%. SNE Research attributes this to customer-concentration exposure in Rivian and older BMW and Audi EV platforms. The rate of decline did not decelerate from Q1, when Samsung SDI fell 27.7% globally — if anything, it widened through the half.
LGES ESS shipments grew 357% in H1, adding roughly 9.4 GWh. That is real volume. It is also less than 40% of the EV share displacement. Samsung SDI and SK On contributed minimal ESS incremental. The combined ESS gain across all three Korean makers offsets under half the EV position they conceded.
