Demand for continuous power fuels European UPS market

ENGLAND: The European uninterruptible power supply (UPS) market is mature. Nevertheless, market expansion will be supported by the escalating demand for reliable power across all end-user segments. The data centre segment, in particular, will offer tremendous scope for UPS sales.

Frost & Sullivan finds that the market earned $1.98 billion in 2012 and estimates this to reach $2.3 billion in 2015. The research covers a range of vertical application segments including data centres, healthcare, commercial, industrial and public/infrastructure.

"The demand for continuous power availability has become the most important driver for the European UPS market," noted Frost & Sullivan Energy & Power Supplies industry analyst, Gautham Gnanajothi . "For certain end users like banks and data centres, power availability is crucial; even a minute of downtime leads to huge monetary losses. This is pushing the demand for smart, reliable and highly energy-efficient UPS systems."

Data centres are the largest end-user segment for UPS systems. The boom in data centres across Europe, particularly Western Europe, will have a positive impact on the uptake of UPS systems.

"Data centres currently contribute about 40 per cent of the entire UPS sales in Europe, with this contribution expected to increase over the years," said Gnanajothi. "Innovative, energy-efficient UPS systems are set to make strong gains in this segment."

As competition intensifies, participants are being forced to reduce their prices. Such price pressures are limiting the growth and margins of most manufacturers, while affecting overall market revenues.

"End users keen on reducing their capital expenditure tend to opt for cheaper products," added Gnanajothi. "However, this trend is changing as end users realise that comparatively higher-priced, energy-efficient UPS systems enable considerable savings in terms of total cost of ownership."

Another challenge is that customers, in most cases, are unable to accurately estimate their power needs. While awareness levels are gradually increasing, manufacturers need to be more proactive in educating clients about their power needs. For this, a more consultative approach is needed wherein manufacturers or distributors work closely with customers to determine their power requirements.