Historical look at the Chinese Smart Meter Market, a 2009 snapshot



Below is a segment from a report in 2009 outlining the position of manufacturers in the Chinese Smart Meter Market.

Of the major players in other aspects of the smart grid, GE and IBM are taking the lead in the market. The State Grid is collaborating with GE to roll out a smart grid trial project in Yangzhou in Jiangsu province, and IBM has formed a joint venture with ENN Group, a Chinese energy provider, to form a joint venture to develop innovative energy services and promote intelligent city programmes throughout China. Intel has also signed an agreement with the government to use its servers for grid simulations. Other companies have also announced intentions to move into the Chinese smart grid market e.g. Cisco, and China Electric Power Technology Holdings has announced its intention to partner with foreign companies to offer an integrated smart grid solution to the Chinese market.

The ability of foreign businesses to gain a foothold in the market maybe limited due to China’s stringent anti-trust policies and strict regulation over IP. Such that an inroads into the smart grid market by Google, may be limited due to ongoing disputes between the company and the Chinese government over access to information, the hacking of Chinese dissidents email accounts and so on. In addition, Hewlett-Packard’s play to buy 3Com, a manufacturer of networking equipment with a strong presence in China, may be blocked the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom), which has significant clout in blocking deals that it perceives as being ‘antitrust’. One company that might fare well in the Chinese market is Bel Fuse, an American company with facilities in China, which manufactures a range of power products, circuit protection, connector modules, LAN products, Cable & Home networks, BroadBand products, Telecom products and Delay Lines.

Several Chinese companies are collaborating to exploit the smart grid market by offering integrated solution. For example, China XD Electric and Guodian Nanjing Automation are planning to launch integrated products in cooperation with China Huadian and the China XD Group. In addition the State Grid appears to be making moves to secure as much as the grid market as it can. In 2009 the State Grid acquired Pinggao Electric, a manufacturer and distributer of electric power transmission and conversion equipment, and XJ Electric, manufacturer and distributer of automation, protection and controlling products for electric power systems including electric meters.


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