SURGING ASIAN SUN

Asian Electronics Giants Aim for Big Slice of PV Pie
February 17, 2011 (IMS Research)

"Asian electronics giants…continue to enter the growing PV market, transferring their expertise in other cost-driven fields and are aiming to capture a major share of the market and IMS Research predicts that Asia’s share of PV cell production will reach nearly 85% by the end of 2011. Although the market is currently rife with fears of a module oversupply, these large Taiwanese and Korean electronics suppliers…have all recently announced impressive expansion plans…

"IMS Research predicts that following the rapid PV cell and module capacity increases in 2010 when demand boomed in major European markets, lower incentive rates and the slowing of installation growth, will lead to an oversupply of PV modules in 2011. In particular, small Tier 2 suppliers are predicted to be most affected, with larger Tier 1 suppliers still able to sell the majority of their products."

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"However, the long-term outlook remains positive…[T]otal industry demand will continue to grow at double-digit rates on average for the next 4 years. As a result, a continuous stream of hopeful new entrants exists…[T]he most successful of these are likely to be these consumer electronics manufacturers…AUO Optronics, a Taiwanese supplier most known for its flat-panel displays recently broke ground on a 1.4 GW cell production Joint Venture with SunPower…LCD TV giant, Samsung recently announced a joint-venture producing polysilicon with MEMC…Taiwan Semiconductor also plans to begin offering both thin film and crystalline modules…[following] investments and partnerships with Motech, Stion and Centrosolar…

"IMS Research estimates that nearly 80% of PV modules were produced in Asia in 2010 and predicts this figure will continue to rise in the future."