Wide Applications of Inverter Products in Developed Countries

Thanks to the wide application of inverter products in developed countries, in the 1980s foreign brands with Japanese ones as representatives began to flood into Mainland China and initiate the development of the inverter industry in China. After extension and application of inverter for more than 20 years, this product has been recognized by a huge number of enterprise users. So far foreign brands have increased to over 40 from original two Sanken and Fuji and at the same time nearly a hundred of domestic brands have come forth, with a total of more than 140. On the whole, despite the great number of domestic brands, most of them are of small scale and weak comprehensive competitiveness.

Compared with developed countries, inverter technology in China is relatively lagging behind. At the beginning of 1980s, Dalian Motor Plant introduced the inverter technology of Japan Toshiba. Then Japan Sanken Company and Japan Fuji Electric Company promoted inverters in China, which has ended the monopoly of DC speed control in China’s motor speed control and opened up an era of frequency conversion speed control by AC motors. In 1996, four ministries and commissions including the original State Ministry of Machinery Industry recommended inverters of 33 specifications produced by 29 domestic factories, but a majority of local enterprises were restricted by technology, fund, system and other factors, they were developing at a comparatively low speed and it was difficult for them to compete with foreign brands.

In the 21st century, the inverter industry in China is highly disintegrated. Numerous foreign brands establish factories and implement local management in China. For information on investment of foreign brands in Mainland China, see the appendix. On the other hand, with continuous separation of staff and capital of original domestic brands, many enterprises have been founded mainly concentrated in coastal areas such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shangdong, Shanghai and so on. With the support and encouragement of the national macro-policy, over recent years a small number of advantageous enterprises have emerged to act as domestic brands. Their scales of production and comprehensive product performance have been greatly enhanced. Although still incapable of conducting all-around competition with top international brands like Siemens and ABB, compared with brands of Japan, Taiwan and Korea, they display some competitive advantages in partial segmented products and markets. Their market share gradually expands, which has significantly improved the competition pattern in China’s inverter market.