On December 15, Wang Yanqing, chairman of Lead Intelligent Equipment (hereafter referred to as LEAD), spoke with Cover News in an in-depth interview, sharing his key takeaways from 2025 and his outlook for 2026. In his view, 2025 marks the beginning of a new industry cycle—one in which opportunities significantly outweigh challenges.
In 2025, the new energy sector entered a renewed phase of development. Following a period of deep adjustment, the industry is now experiencing a structural recovery. The logic of competition is shifting from sheer scale expansion to technological depth. Intelligence and high-quality manufacturing are emerging as core competitive advantages, as companies move decisively toward higher-value segments. The industry is transitioning from “growth driven by scale” to manufacturing at the limits of precision, efficiency, and intelligence.
Reflecting on both 2025 and the road ahead, Wang noted that while the industry has clearly entered a new cycle, the momentum lies firmly with opportunity rather than risk. The accelerated industrialization of solid-state batteries and energy storage technologies represents not merely a short-term tailwind, but a comprehensive stress test of equipment makers’ technical foundations and extreme delivery capabilities.
Looking Back on 2025: What Has Changed?
The most important realization in 2025 is that a true competitive moat no longer lies in scale, but in early insight into technology trends and the deep restructuring of manufacturing systems.
As new technology pathways—particularly solid-state batteries and advanced energy storage—move rapidly toward commercialization, equipment manufacturers face rising demands that go well beyond capacity delivery. At LEAD, manufacturing is viewed fundamentally as the embodiment of process through equipment, with intelligence representing the only viable path to ultimate efficiency. This conviction has reinforced the company’s commitment to integrating AI, digital twins, and advanced automation deeply into production lines, enabling manufacturing systems that can self-optimize and continuously evolve.
The long-term value of an equipment company lies in its ability to use equipment as a carrier to translate frontier technologies into scalable production, high yield, and iterative competitiveness for customers.
What Did You Gain—and What Did You Give Up—in 2025?
What we gained was a systemic victory in translating technological breakthroughs into commercial execution across critical tracks.
In solid-state battery equipment, LEAD achieved end-to-end process integration across the entire production chain and completed batch deliveries to leading industry customers, securing a strategic high ground in next-generation battery technologies. In energy storage equipment, cumulative order volume reached an industry-leading scale.
More importantly, amid rapid technological iteration, the team forged a rare combination of on-time delivery discipline and frontier-level innovation capability—a set of engineering strengths that directly translated into operating performance. In the first three quarters of 2025, the company recorded total revenue of RMB 10.439 billion (≈ $1.49 billion), up 14.56% year on year, while net profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB 1.186 billion(≈ $169.5 million), a 95.97% increase. This counter-cyclical growth underscores a clear conclusion: technology premium remains the ultimate answer to navigating industry cycles.
What we chose to give up was investment in low-efficiency, homogeneous competition.
LEAD deliberately exited market battles driven purely by price and instead focused on segments with high technical barriers and stringent process requirements. This form of strategic subtraction allowed the company to concentrate resources on solutions with enduring value for customers—and led to renewed market recognition of the “LEAD standard”: equipment systems defined by extreme quality, full-process traceability, and lifecycle-wide service capability.
What Is Your Keyword for 2025?
“Breaking upward.”
This phrase best captures our strategic direction for 2025. As competition intensifies, we rejected horizontal repetition at the low end and instead chose vertical breakthroughs into higher-value, more critical nodes.
First, breaking upward at the source of technology.
We aim not merely to deliver equipment, but to co-create processes. In frontier fields such as solid-state batteries, we work with customers from the laboratory stage onward, moving from responding to demand to defining what is possible.
Second, breaking upward at the limits of quality.
We have established a high-standard system centered on reliability and consistency. By embedding AI vision and predictive maintenance, what we deliver is no longer a stand-alone machine, but an intelligent production system capable of continuously reducing cost and improving efficiency for customers.
Third, breaking upward through ecosystem collaboration.
We are building partnerships akin to a shared-value community. From pilot lines to scaled mass production, LEAD has become an indispensable chief equipment partner in the innovation journeys of leading players across the value chain.
“Breaking upward” is a conscious strategic choice. It reflects our decision to pursue a more demanding—but ultimately more durable—path: building irreplaceable long-term value through technological depth and ecosystem co-evolution.
