In the domestic PV market has turned sharply, when it is quiet and depressed, foreign countries are bustling. After the Shanghai Photovoltaic Exhibition, almost all domestic inverter companies in Germany and Brazil have gone, and the Indian PV exhibition is in sight. Will not be absent.
In the three months after the introduction of the 531 New Deal, domestic inverter companies quickly moved the battlefield overseas without any suspense. This collective trip to the sea not only means that domestic inverter companies have once again fully integrated into the international competition, but also announced A new round of 'off-site' competition in domestic enterprises.
Looking around the world, domestic inverter companies are far ahead in terms of shipments, and they are not much more than the component companies. However, this time they also have to face the international big names that are famous. The industry believes that in the domestic market. The scale is shrinking, the traditional foreign market pattern is basically solidified, and the scale of emerging markets is limited. In the face of the strong international stage, some second-tier companies have brand awareness, warehousing ability, after-sales service capability, and customer resource reserve. Being eliminated will be a high probability event.
Survive and survive, get together
The introduction of the 531 New Deal indicates that the domestic PV industry has entered a new round of adjustment period. Due to the narrowing of domestic scale indicators, the market breakthrough is difficult, and domestic inverter companies have chosen to go out and increase the overseas market layout.
As a global leader in inverters, Sunshine Power's new round of overseas deployments is particularly interesting. On July 27th, the world's leading solar inverter power generation capacity of 3GW inverter manufacturing base was put into production in India; subsequently, 8 On the 27th of the month, the establishment of a localized integrated service center in the United States. These actions are undoubtedly important signals for Sunshine Power to strengthen overseas spare stocks, after-sales service capabilities, and further expand overseas markets.
Synchronized with Sunshine Power, it is the top five global shipments of 'Old Competitors' Shangneng Electric. On August 22, Shangneng Electric also announced that its 3GW capacity inverter manufacturing base will be put into production in India. Li Jianfei, president of the company, said that this layout is not only conducive to expanding the company's local market share. In the future, the plant is expected to become a production base for overseas exports, and is an important breakthrough in the radiation surrounding market. At the same time, it is more capable in India. Advantages, can also better serve the local, enhance customer trust.
Of course, Guruvat, Jinlang, Gudwei, and Yingweiteng have further stepped up their efforts to consolidate and expand their overseas presence. At the same time, Sanjing Electric, Xinhang New Energy and Moso Power have begun to seek new opportunities overseas. According to Yingweiteng Marketing Director Pan Yongqiang introduced that in 2018, the overseas inverter market of enterprises increased from 35% at the beginning of the year to 60% after 531. Among them, Europe achieved over 150%-200% growth, and India also doubled its growth. It is occupying nearly 90% of the market.
Why is overseas so attractive? In addition to having certain market development potential, it can be used to survive, and foreign commercial credit has become an important factor favored by domestic enterprises. Gu Liwat Marketing Director Zhang Lixia said that foreign business credit is better, back Short cycle, in the dark period of the domestic market is more conducive to ensuring smooth flow of cash.
Of course, having certain product competitiveness and brand influence is also an important guarantee for going global. The 2017 PV inverter enterprise shipments ranking released by research institute IHS shows that the top ten global shipments, domestically occupy seven seats. , fully shows the strength of domestic enterprises.
According to reports, at present, domestic inverter companies have gradually surpassed foreign countries in terms of product cost performance, technology iteration speed, service responsiveness, and technical solutions, and even better than foreign countries. Li Jianfei predicts that China's inverter companies overseas The market situation is booming. From the development trend, the overseas market will surely be the world of domestic inverter companies.
Supply and demand have been balanced
Going out, the nature facing is no longer a national brand, and the intensity of competition is bound to be more cruel.
The global PV market first started in Germany, Japan and other countries. Taking the European market as an example, under the incentive mechanism of electricity price subsidy policy, the installed capacity of photovoltaics in Europe continued to increase, reaching 18.5GW in 2011, accounting for the new installed capacity in the world. In the meantime, the photovoltaic companies established in the early days of China began to emerge on the international stage. After 2011, the European PV market began to shift, Australia and North America broke out, and domestic inverter companies also quickly followed up. According to reports, in 2012, China's inverter companies took advantage of high cost performance and occupied more than 50% market share in Australia.
Taking advantage of the overseas market, many inverter companies have accumulated and accumulated valuable experience overseas, occupying favorable opportunities in brand awareness, marketing layout, localized warehousing, customer resources, sales channels, after-sales service, etc. Sunshine power and Guruwatt.
At present, Sunshine Power Inverter has a foreign market share of about 15%, and has been sold to Germany, Italy, Australia, the United States, Japan and other countries in more than 50 countries. Sun Yang Power Chairman Cao Renxian once revealed the stage in the media interview. 'Small goal', he said, it takes 5 years to earn at least 40% of the company's total revenue in order to withstand various risks from the outside world. Guruwatt, which has been deeply cultivated overseas for many years, has also exported to Australia. , Europe, America, Asia, Africa, more than 100 countries and regions in the six continents, and in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Thailand, the United States and Germany have local service centers, operating for more than 5 years. In addition, a According to a report released by BRIDGE TO INDIA, a new energy authority research institute in India, Guruwatt became the largest Chinese inverter supplier in the Indian rooftop power station market in 2017-2018, accounting for 8.3% of the market.
Of course, Huawei, as a latecomer to the inverter industry, held high the smart PV banner and both domestic and international market strategies, and quickly became the global leader in inverter shipments. Today, Huawei is flagging the world. Some countries and regions have a large market share.
Looking at the world, better inverter companies in foreign markets include German SMA, Swiss ABB, Japanese TMIC, Austrian Fronius, Israel SolarEdge, domestic Huawei, Sunshine Power, Shangneng Electric, Guruwatt, Gudwei, Delta, Chint, Yingweiteng, Jinlang, etc. Of course, different regional markets also have different market shares.
In terms of domestic brands, Huawei, which is known for its large-scale projects, has a large share of traditional markets such as Europe, Japan, and North America. It has also achieved important achievements in emerging markets such as India, and Guruvat, who is known for its family market, Goodwin, Jinlang and other companies in Europe, Australia, North America and other traditional markets have also had a very good influence.
In response to the overseas market structure, Zhang Lixia believes that the brand enterprises and customers in the market have basically reached a certain balance in supply and demand, and the international market structure has basically solidified. The international market space is actually limited. However, like India, Central and South America, etc. They are all actively developing directions and can seek certain breakthroughs.
'Different' game, the survival of the fittest is inevitable
In 2013-2017, the domestic market has been maintaining a high level of development. Many companies have gained a share of it. When the domestic market is rapidly declining, the first-line companies are taking advantage of the domestic market share, and the inherent international market has become a strong support. Some second-line brands are inevitably struggling in market development, and even face the fate of being eliminated.
'The market is so big, there are more people going out to sea. A fierce competition is inevitable. In the end, it will inevitably not return to the civil war between domestic enterprises, but only change the competition venue.' Zhang Lixia said.
She further explained that from the domestic market, the current accelerated subsidy has become a trend, which is bound to bring a new round of price reduction, while the cost of second-line brand products is originally weak, facing low-price competition, and profitability is more difficult, so it is not conducive to sustainability. With the rolling investment of funds, it is difficult to survive. From the perspective of foreign markets, the traditional European, Australian and North American markets have stabilized and the development potential is not large. At the same time, the scale of emerging markets is very limited, and some are even worse than domestic ones. A province is large. Therefore, foreign markets are actually more difficult.
Of course, this round of reshuffle determines the company's life and death not only from the domestic 531 new policy, but also the impact of global political and economic situation. Pan Yongqiang believes that 'the impact of the 531 new policy on the business, the economic impact of the global trade war, the overall manufacturing Survival of the fittest, these factors may have the greatest impact on the reshuffle of inverter companies. In addition, coupled with the domestic homogenization of inverter companies, the price is stifling, the survival of the fittest is inevitable.
Cao Renxian also said that due to the Sino-US trade war, 10% of the company's profits may be sacrificed. The impact of India's tariffs on China's PV products may cause local project construction to slow down. Li Jianfei said that India's manufacturing industry is relatively backward and has certain dependence on overseas products. From the second half of last year to the first half of this year, due to the extremely hot Chinese market, India's domestic production capacity is insufficient, resulting in few real projects in the Indian market.
So now, the fittest survives. Maybe through the cold winter, after this round of international competitive test, the rest can stand better in the sun.
