Falling prices to dampen record PV inverter shipments in 4Q12,says IMS Research Press release;Jackie Chang,DIGITIMES[Friday 12 October 2012]Following a decline in the third quarter of 2012,global PV inverter shipments are forecast to reach a record of 8.6GW in the fourth quarter,according to IMS Research.An 18%year-on-year rise in global shipments will make the fourth quarter of 2012 the largest final quarter ever recorded.However,IMS Research predicts far more modest revenue growth due to increasing price pressure for PV inverters.
IMS Research noted that the double-digit sequential growth will be largely driven by Asian countries such as China,India and Japan,and Asia will account for almost 50%of global shipments in the fourth quarter.In contrast,shipments to mature markets in Europe,such as Italy and Germany,are forecast to decline by 20%in the fourth quarter due to aggressive feed-in-tariff(FIT)cuts.
IMS Research collected shipment data from leading suppliers and found that the first half of 2012 began strongly with over 16GW of global shipments.However,despite strong shipments,the average price of PV inverters had fallen by almost 20%on year in the second quarter of 2012."Following huge amounts of price pressure on other solar components such as modules,PV inverter prices have also come under fire,"explained Cormac Gilligan,PV market analyst at IMS Research."Highly competitive market conditions,falling incentives and weakening demand in key markets has resulted in prices declining by an average of 5%per quarter for the last year."
Shifts in demand for different types of inverter have also had an impact on inverter pricing."Shipments of inverters over 500kW in size are forecast to continue to grow substantially in the second half of the year as high demand for utility scale installations is forecast in markets such as the US,India and China,"Gilligan explained."This change in market share towards larger inverters with a lower price per watt has also been a factor in the reduction of average PV inverter prices."
Looking further forward,in 2013,in shipment terms,China is forecast to surpass Germany as the largest market for PV inverters as FIT amendments take full effect on the Germany market and China continues to rapidly deploy utility scale systems.The US is predicted to become the third biggest market for PV inverters highlighting the global shift from the mature European markets to the fast growing Americas and Asia regions.
