Anker Raises 200 Million for Grabbing Tesla's Energy Storage Business | Focus Analysis

Text｜Hu Yiting

Editor｜Yuan Silai

The wind of energy storage is blowing once again.

Recently, Anker Innovations' application to the China Securities Regulatory Commission for the issuance of convertible corporate bonds to unspecified objects has been approved. The fundraising requirement does not exceed 1.105 billion yuan (including 1.105 billion yuan), and the funds used for the research and development and industrialization project of portable and household energy storage products exceed 200 million yuan.

Starting from self-charging products and engaging in household energy storage when energy issues sweep the globe, this business layout of Anker may not be surprising.

In fact, as early as 2015, Anker Innovations had launched mobile energy storage products and conducted research on market demand and technology. However, at that time, the market space of the energy storage track had not yet emerged, and energy storage did not become an important direction for Anker Innovations to exert efforts.

Data from the "Research Report on the Development of China's Portable Energy Storage Industry (2021)" shows that by 2016, the global shipment of portable energy storage products was only 52,000 units, still in a stage with a relatively small overall market size and low consumer awareness. This business of Anker also became silent.

In 2019, the entire industry trend changed. That year, EcoFlow launched the new product DELTA 1300. With the advantages of super-fast charging and large capacity, it quickly occupied the market, and its revenue increased by more than ten times within one year, far surpassing Anker.

Anker couldn't remain idle. In 2020, Anker's portable energy storage product line was reestablished, and the person in charge of one of the core business lines at that time was transferred to this product line, a large number of people were recruited, and new products were launched. Since then, Anker has launched several new products, but it has missed the explosive period.

"Starting early but arriving late" has become a rather appropriate description of Anker's energy storage business. With the ups and downs of the market, Anker has begun to clarify that the demand for energy storage products necessarily exists, but the brand should have a more systematic approach.

However, it can be seen from Anker's investment scale of 200 million yuan that energy storage is still in the exploratory period. Compared with EcoFlow, which has not yet been listed, Anker has abundant fundraising channels, but they have not taken a high-profile approach. After experiencing the significant fluctuations in the energy storage market in the past few years, Anker has decided to move forward more cautiously.

Arriving Late and Sharing Joys and Sorrows

Since 2019, the volume of portable energy storage has grown rapidly, and players who have been dormant for a long time have risen suddenly, but Anker, which marginalized this line, failed to take the lead.

The outbreak of the energy storage track requires both favorable timing and geographical conditions.

During the epidemic, it was difficult for people to go out, the importance of stable household power supply increased, and the demand for household backup power supplies increased sharply, making portable energy storage products a choice for many families.

When the epidemic gradually eased, overseas consumers who love outdoor activities reignited their enthusiasm, and the use scenarios of portable energy storage such as self-driving tours and picnics increased, resulting in a significant increase in product sales.

At that time, the cost of the core components of portable energy storage also decreased. According to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), the average unit cost of lithium battery packs has decreased from $684/kWh in 2013 to $132/kWh in 2021, with a reduction rate of up to 80.70%.

As a result, the portable energy storage market exploded rapidly. According to relevant data from the China Industrial Association of Power Sources, the global portable energy storage market size rapidly increased from 120 million yuan in 2017 to 11.12 billion yuan in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate of up to 210.3%; in 2021, the online sales proportion of portable energy storage products has exceeded 80%.

Companies that seized this opportunity have all experienced rapid growth. Among them, EcoFlow achieved a growth of more than ten times in 2020 compared to the previous year, and its shipment and sales market share jumped to the second place globally; in 2020, with the Jackery and Portable Power Station brands, EcoFlow Energy Technology Co., Ltd. captured a 16.6% market share in shipments. In 2022, it successfully went public and became the "First Portable Energy Storage Stock".

In contrast, when companies such as EcoFlow and EcoFlow Energy Technology Co., Ltd. were seizing market share, Anker only reestablished its portable energy storage product line in 2020.

Since then, Anker has launched a series of products. Among them, in April 2022, its 1500W outdoor power supply with the model number 757 was globally launched and became the number one in the same category on Amazon on the first day of its listing, and the total sales of outdoor energy storage products tripled in one year.

However, for the whole year of 2022, Anker released 3 energy storage products globally, with an annual revenue of 500 million yuan, which did not meet the company's expected goals and cannot be compared with EcoFlow Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and EcoFlow, which have revenues of several billion yuan.

At the end of 2022, the portable energy storage track also reached a low point. During this period, the United States, as the largest global market, saw the purchasing power brought about by the excessive issuance of currency and the large amount of livelihood subsidies issued during the epidemic gradually weaken; a large number of players blindly entered the portable energy storage track to chase profits, and under the imbalance between supply and demand, the entire industry faced inventory pressure.

Xiong Kang, a director of Anker Innovations, once said that by the beginning of 2023, in just one quarter, the sales of the company's this product line dropped by 60% to 70%.

Behind the cliff-like decline is that companies made decisions based only on their judgments of the market situation without insight into product demand. Under the tide of elimination, leading enterprises such as Anker Innovations have begun to look for a second growth curve.

Household Energy Storage Becomes a New Choice

In 2023, finding a new direction has become an urgent need for energy storage companies. While Anker is clearing its inventory, it has made the same decision as EcoFlow Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and other companies: to invest in household energy storage.

Household energy storage is mainly used in household scenarios. It is a system with the core function of storing electrical energy to provide power support and energy management for households, consisting of battery packs, inverters, battery management systems (BMS), and energy management systems (EMS).

The threshold for portable energy storage enterprises to shift to household energy storage is not low. Overseas, household energy storage systems involve household safety, the certification process is long, and the requirements for product stability are higher; compared with portable energy storage, household energy storage has a larger volume, more complex components, and more tests the transportation, installation services, and after-sales capabilities of enterprises.

Facing a series of problems, Anker chose to first shorten the decision-making cycle by leveraging its own overseas online marketing and sales capabilities to promote products to reach consumers more quickly.

Xiong Kang, the head of Anker Innovations' Charging and Energy Storage Business Unit, once told the media that the cost of installing a household photovoltaic energy storage system for overseas consumers is high. It may cost 20,000 euros in Europe and start at 30,000 US dollars in the United States. The decision-making process from purchase, installation, loan to later maintenance is quite complicated. At the same time, the installers of household energy storage are mostly the offline sellers of the products, and consumers lack channels to independently understand the products and brands.

In response, Anker attempts to change the sales model through online channels.

In 2024, Anker released the Anker SOLIX X1 household energy storage system in North America. Through KOLs, media publicity, and social media marketing, it obtained more than 6,000 address clues from consumers within a few days, and they actively requested to install the X1 system. In addition, in the European market, Anker's balcony photovoltaic energy storage system sold 4,000 sets in the first week of its launch, with an income of approximately 8 million US dollars.

Anker SOLIX X1 Household Energy Storage System, Image Source: Enterprise Official Website

The sales feedback has given Anker the confidence to continue investing in household energy storage. However, from the overall market perspective, household energy storage is not a new track, and mature players have already seized the market. It is still too early for Anker Innovations, EcoFlow Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and other enterprises to hope to boost the energy storage sector with this product line.

A report released by QYResearch in December 2024 shows that the core manufacturers of global household energy storage systems include Tesla, BYD, and LG, and these three enterprises already account for approximately 41% of the market share.

Among them, Tesla began to launch the home energy storage battery Powerwall and the super-large commercial energy storage battery Megapack in the United States in 2015, targeting the home energy storage market and the commercial and industrial energy storage markets, respectively. Tesla has formed a relatively complete system from product research and development, production to sales services.

Since the launch of Powerwall, as of February 2024, the global installation volume has exceeded 600,000 units; in 2023, its market share in the United States was as high as 30.2%.

Obviously, compared with enterprises such as Tesla, Anker Innovations is still in the early stage in terms of the layout and existing sales volume of household energy storage. How to gain a foothold in a concentrated market after increasing investment tests its multiple capabilities in products, channels, and brands.