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According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) South Korean rechargeable battery manufacturers such as Samsung SDI and LG Chem have extended their lead in the global market despite competition from Japanese and Chinese rivals by successfully diversifying their product lines, industrywide data showed Sunday.

A finding by B3, a dedicated battery research agency in Japan, showed the world's output of secondary batteries jumped 9.7 percent on-year in the second quarter to 11.57 billion cells.

Rechargeable batteries or secondary cells are widely used in mobile gadgets like smartphones, digital cameras and power tools, as well as electric bikes, cars and hybrid vehicles.

Of the total, Samsung SDI's output surged 16.7 percent on-year to 315 million cells for a market share of 27.2 percent. This was followed by a 16.5 percent market share enjoyed by LG Chem that made 234 million cells in the three-month period.

Following the two South Korean leaders, two Japanese companies -- Panasonic and Sony -- and China's ATL made the top five list in the second quarter, B3 said.

By country, South Korea's market share in the secondary cell sector stood at 47.5 percent, up 5.4 percentage points from 42.1 percent in the second quarter of 2013.

The market share of Japanese companies stood pat at 27.5 percent, while numbers for China backtracked 4.3 percentage points to 20.7 percent.

At the present rate, South Korean companies, including some minor players, may well account for more than half of all rechargeable batteries sold in the world in 2014.

Analysts said South Korean companies have been expanding their market footprint by diversifying into the power tools and the automotive sectors.

Samsung SDI has started supplying toolmakers such as Bosch and SD&B, and currently accounts for 50.1 percent of the market. It also holds 27.7 percent of the powered bike field, with LG Chem also doing well in these areas.

Such diversification benefited South Korean companies because demand for batteries for the information technology (IT) sectors dipped 7.5 percent on-year in the April-June period.

Even in the IT field, Samsung SDI holds a 27.1 percent market share, ranking at the top of the pack.

yonngong@yna.co.kr

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