Entering the electric vehicle (EV) space continues be a major driving force for companies, with several Asia-Pacific (APAC) technology companies joining the fray. This reflects in the filing documents of the APAC technology sector, where discussions around ‘EVs’ grew by 93% year-on-year in 2020, reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The number of companies discussing about EVs also rose to 53 in 2020, compared to 41 in 2019. Companies including Baidu, Xiaomi and Foxconn have all stated their interest in entering the EV market.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Filing Analytics Platform also reveals 67% growth in mentions around sustainability in 2020 compared to 2019.

Rinaldo Pereira, Senior Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, says: “With no engines in EVs, designing a vehicle with batteries and chips seems straightforward for tech companies. EVs are a strong alternative avenue for generating growth- with Tesla being an example, yet highly competitive-even for the best tech companies with strong investing capabilities, as almost every carmaker is investing huge amounts into zero-emission models.”

GlobalData’s Filing Analytics platform shows that in case of APAC tech companies that mentioned EVs, discussions around ‘Partnerships’ rose by nearly 9% in 2020 compared to 2019. Foxconn and Baidu both expect to launch EVs in partnership with Geely.

GlobalData’s Job Analytics Database reveals that APAC tech companies have also stepped up on the hiring front, with active jobs being around 15% higher by the end of Q1 2021 compared to Q4 2020. Job postings doubled during the same period while closed jobs tripled.

Mr. Pereira concludes: “Following the footsteps of US tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet (Google), APAC tech companies have recognized the difficulty in head-on competition with already established OEMs and are looking at partnerships to boost their chances of gaining foothold in the EV market.”