Rising demand for PV inverters from Asian markets has resulted in domestic suppliers accounting for a growing share of the global market. China and Japan together represented 35 percent of global PV inverter revenue in 2014, unlike just 12 percent in 2011. Capitalizing on the high-entry barriers to international suppliers in these booming regions, Asian suppliers have succeeded in dominating their domestic markets and have now been catapulted into the global top 10, as shown in the attached table.
Chinese-based inverter manufacturer Sungrow continued to command a leading position in the fast-growing Chinese market. In last year’s final quarter alone, the company shipped over 2 gigawatts (GW) of inverters, the majority to its domestic market. China underwent an intense rush to complete photovoltaic systems before the end of 2014 in order to beat a scheduled decrease in the feed-in tariff rate.
Sungrow’s shipments nearly equaled a record held by Germany’s SMA Solar Technology, which achieved almost 2.4 GW of global shipments during a single quarter in 2010. But even though Sungrow shipped more inverters in megawatt terms in the final quarter of 2014 than any other supplier, extremely low average prices for central inverters in China meant that it was only the second largest supplier in revenue. Even so, this marked a notable increase considering that Sungrow had not appeared in the top 10 during any other single quarter in 2014.
East heads West
While the domestic business of these four Asian suppliers has enabled them to achieve significant share in global market revenues, all have minimal sales outside of their home markets.
“Although Asian suppliers have had a huge impact on the global rankings due to their success in local markets, their bearing on international markets outside of China and Japan has currently been quite limited,” noted Wilkinson. “Just the same, the economies of scale, expertise and brand strength that they have now been able to achieve makes them well placed for international expansion, and the world is likely to see many of these suppliers play a greater role in markets outside Asia over the next two to three years.”
Western suppliers lose ground
In contrast to the success of Asian suppliers, the competitive position of Western firms has worsened considerably. In 2008 eight of the top 10 spots were held by Europeans—and the remaining two also had strong European connections; but only four remained in that echelon as of last year. IHS also noted that three of the largest manufacturers in 2008 have also been acquired, while one has exited the industry altogether.
The decline of the PV market in Europe has placed European suppliers in a very vulnerable position. Many of these suppliers relied heavily on Europe as the backbone of their business and were highly exposed to the rapid shift in demand from Europe to other regions. Annual PV inverter revenues from Europe have halved in the last two years, creating an extremely tough competitive environment, and many of the leading names from five years ago have vanished from today’s list of leading suppliers.
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