Samsung SDI
Recording operating losses while committing $3.5 billion to GM joint venture—R&D spending in downturns is how species prepare for the next boom.
Samsung SDI recorded operating losses through Q1-Q3 2025 while committing $3.5 billion to a General Motors joint venture in Indiana (36 GWh annual capacity, targeting 2027 mass production) and joining BMW's all-solid-state battery development program with Solid Power in October 2025. Revenue for 2024 totaled KRW 16.59 trillion ($11.55 billion) with operating profit of just KRW 363.3 billion, and 2025 revenue projects an 8% decline as the core lithium-ion business contracts 9%. The company's global EV battery market share fell 3.5 percentage points through October 2025, losing ground to Chinese competitors like CATL and BYD while European and Korean rivals also gained. Yet management approved KRW 1.91 trillion ($1.38 billion) in production expansion and targeted 2027-2030 commercialization of all-solid-state batteries with 900 Wh/L energy density—a bet that next-generation technology will render current market share irrelevant.
This is bet-hedging through R&D spending during downturns, following evolutionary logic: when the current environment turns hostile, organisms that invest in variation (rather than doubling down on current phenotypes) position themselves for the next selection pressure. Samsung SDI's multi-billion dollar commitments—StarPlus Energy with Stellantis, GM joint venture, BMW solid-state partnership, QuantumScape collaboration through Volkswagen's ecosystem—spread bets across multiple automakers, chemistries, and geographies. If solid-state batteries achieve commercialization by 2030 as BMW projects, early partnerships with Solid Power's electrolyte technology and Samsung's manufacturing expertise could create first-mover advantages in a market projected to transform EV economics (30% cost reduction, 15% faster charging, 15% higher density). If solid-state timelines slip, the GM and Stellantis joint ventures provide fallback revenue from conventional lithium-ion cells for North American production.
The biological parallel is perennial plants allocating energy to root growth during winter—visible productivity declines, but underground investments prepare for spring. Samsung SDI's operating losses stem from U.S. tariffs on energy storage systems, inventory adjustments by major clients (including reduced Rivian demand), and price competition from Chinese producers with lower cost structures. The company could cut R&D, reduce capital commitments, and stabilize near-term profitability. Instead, it's absorbing short-term pain to maintain optionality on multiple technology pathways. BMW selected Samsung SDI as a partner due to "long-standing trust built through years-long partnership"—relationship capital that opens doors competitors can't access. The all-solid-state program targets BMW's i7 platform with production vehicles around 2030; if successful, Samsung SDI becomes the primary supplier for BMW's next-generation EV architecture. The companies that survive battery market shakeouts won't be the ones with the highest current market share. They'll be the ones that maintained R&D spending, diversified technology bets, and built deep partnerships with automakers during the trough—emerging with next-generation products when the market stabilizes and weaker competitors have already exited.