Motor drives sales parallel rising energy concerns

The worldwide low-voltage motor drives market continues to surpass everyone’s expectations. According to IMS Research, early indicators suggest the market had another stellar year in 2007 as it continued its recent trend of double digit growth, and in some regions, even surpassed the growth of 2006.

By Control Engineering Staff May 1, 2008

The worldwide low-voltage motor drives market continues to surpass everyone’s expectations. According to IMS Research, early indicators suggest the market had another stellar year in 2007 as it continued its recent trend of double digit growth, and in some regions, even surpassed the growth of 2006.

While Europe, Middle East & Africa experienced similar growth in 2007 as the previous year, increasing by about 15% over the 2006 levels, the markets in the Americas and Asia Pacific grew faster in 2007 than they did the year before. The market for motor drives in the Americas seemed unaffected by recent economic woes, and surged ahead by more than 15% over 2006 levels.

A continued focus on energy conservation due to record high energy costs, combined with an emphasis by major American companies to cut operational costs, have made motor drives an increasingly important issue. According to IMS Research motor drives analyst Alex Chausovsky, “Motor drives continue to provide an effective way to manage long-term energy costs, as well as significantly bring down the total cost of ownership for a majority of the motors used by industry.”

The Asia Pacific drives market performed even better in 2007 than its European and American counterparts, growing by more than 25% over 2006 levels. India and China continue to exhibit an insatiable hunger for raw materials, such as metals and chemicals, and the increasing spending power of their populations is driving the demand for construction and processed foods and beverages, all of which are industry segments that rely heavily on motor drives.