IMS expects LV ac motor revenues to double by 2014

03 February 2011

By 2014, IMS Research forecasts that the market for low voltage integral horsepower ac motors will more than double in revenues to $19.4 billion compared with 2009, when the global market was estimated to have contracted by over 20%. Unit shipments are expected to grow steadily at double-digit rates, reaching 51.6 million units at that time. The revenue growth will be driven by regional legislation mandating sales of higher efficiency (and thus) more expensive motors.

With a major transition to IE3 Premium Efficiency having already occurred at the end of 2010, the US and Canada lead the world in motor efficiency standards. As a result, motors sold in North America will be more expensive than in the past. IE3 efficiency class motors have average selling prices that are more than double those of IE1 Standard Efficiency motors.

IMS Research estimates that market revenues for IE3 motors will skyrocket 914% in 2011 and the market is expected to be dominated by American motor manufacturers until at least 2015. At this time, the states of the European Union will begin their respective transitions to IE3, with manufacturers such as ABB and Siemens leading the charge in this region.