Alarm has risen in Seoul over industrial groups losing their technological edge, says Christian Davies for the Financial Times.
SEOUL: Senior Korean officials are traditionally reluctant to say anything that could be construed in Beijing as antagonistic or confrontational.
But in almost every sector bar the most advanced semiconductors, that is no longer the case. Chinese companies have either surpassed, matched or are rapidly closing the technology gap with South Korea in sectors ranging from electric vehicles to smartphones. Despite this, many Koreans continue to comfort themselves with the idea that Chinese rivals remain unable to compete when it comes to quality.Korean media outlets report enthusiastically on scandals at Chinese factories.
It soon emerged that the Mercedes had contained nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries manufactured by, a lesser known Chinese battery producer. According to Korean media reports, local EV drivers responded by demanding to know if their vehicles contained Chinese or Korean batteries. Some prospective buyers of EVs told dealers they were unwilling to buy cars with Chinese batteries.
Bernstein analyst Neil Beveridge notes that there is"no evidence to suggest that Korean batteries have better safety performance than Chinese batteries".The reality, from a Korean perspective, is more worrying. South Korean battery makers have traditionally specialised in the production of NMC batteries, which are more expensive but have a higher density and therefore better performance than the lithium iron phosphate batteries that leading Chinese battery makers specialise in.
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