Holding the largest share in the world, the Chinese switchgear market is expected to increase at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.8% between 2013 and 2020, reaching a share of 19.2% by 2020, forecasts research and consulting firm GlobalData.
According to the company’s latest report*, the global switchgear market grew from $46.8 billion in 2008 to $58.6 billion in 2012. In the lead, the Chinese switchgear market increased from $7.7 billion in 2008 to $9.9 billion in 2012, accounting for a share of 16.9% in 2012.
Low-voltage switchgear had the highest share of global revenue with 49% in 2012, while medium-voltage and high-voltage switchgear equipment accounted for 36% and 15%, respectively. This is because, for a single high-voltage installation, multiple medium-voltage switchgears are deployed.
Sowmyavadhana Srinivasan, GlobalData's Senior Analyst covering Power, says: “Growing installed capacity is a major driver of this market, and GlobalData expects installed capacity worldwide to increase from 5,645 Gigawatts (GW) in 2012 to 7,671 GW in 2020, at a CAGR of 3.9%.
“Additionally, power is usually produced at a medium-voltage level and is then stepped up to a higher voltage for transportation over longer distances. As the number of generation units increases, the number of medium-voltage switchgear equipment used also rises in generation as well as the distribution segment.”
Another boost to the switchgear market is the substantial investment in transmission infrastructure, which will demand high-voltage switchgear devices in the future. This would be followed by investments in both medium-voltage and low-voltage switchgear equipment to ensure connectivity of the electricity to the end user.
“Developing countries such as China and India have introduced various initiatives in order to cater to the electricity demand that is being linked with rapid economic growth. Ultra-high-voltage grids are expected to be the core focus of investment for transmission and distribution.
“Furthermore, as urbanization and industrialization increase around the world, there is a substantial increase in infrastructure, which means heavier investment in the end-user segments for power which supports the growth of the low-voltage switchgear market,” Srinivasan says.
However, the growth in prices of raw materials, such as copper, aluminum and steel, has directly increased the costs of transmission equipment, including high-voltage switchgear. Additionally, the presence of a large number of companies, especially in India and China, has introduced competitive pricing pressure in the switchgear market.
“In the absence of much scope for product differentiation, pricing becomes an important criterion for gaining a market share. Multinationals are struggling to keep their costs and prices competitive in both emerging and developed markets in order to match competition from Chinese and Indian players,” Srinivasan concludes.
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