Three South Korean electric vehicle (EV) battery makers accounted for over a third of the global market last year underscoring their increased presence in the fast-growing sector, a market research firm said Monday.

The three -- LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. and SK Innovation Co. -- supplied a combined 49.4 gigawatt-hour (GWh) equivalents of EV batteries in 2020, accounting for 34.7 percent of the total, according to the data by SNE Research.

Their combined share more than doubled from 16 percent in 2019, helped by solid sales of major EV models.

LG Energy Solution, spun off from LG Chem Ltd. in early December, shipped 33.5 GWh of EV batteries last year to account for 23.5 percent of the total, becoming the No. 2 manufacturer slightly behind China's CATL with a 24 percent share.

Japan's Panasonic slipped one notch to take the third place with an 18.5 percent share, followed by China's BYD with 6.7 percent.

Samsung SDI Co. and SK Innovation were in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

"The three Korean firms posted double-digit growth last year to sharply increase their market share," SNE Research said in a report. "Their growth was attributable to the increased sales of EVs equipped with their batteries."

LG Energy Solution supplies EV batteries to industry leader Tesla, as well as battery-powered models by Renault and Volkswagen.

Samsung SDI provides its batteries to pure electric models by Audi and BMW, while SK Innovation teams up with Hyundai Motor and Kia. (Yonhap)