Growth Opportunity Analysis of the Global UPS Battery Market, 2018

Commercial and Data Center UPS Drive Battery Demand

Majority of the UPS systems has a battery to store energy that will be used during a power outage. The stationary lead-acid battery is the predominant battery chemistry used in these UPS, while lithium ion is the emerging chemistry that is revolutionizing the industry. Among the UPS applications, the role of batteries in commercial, industrial, data centre, healthcare, and other end-user applications are discussed in detail in this study. Lead-acid battery, with all its desirable features, including affordability and availability at any part of the world, makes it the most preferred chemistry globally. In addition to the end-user application analysis, this study also tracks the geographic region, detailing the revenue contribution in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of World.

In addition to the geographical region analysis, this study also delves about the power range split, detailing the revenue contribution of batteries that are used in UPS ranging from less than 20KVA, 20.1 to 50 KVA, 50.1 to 100 KVA, 100.1 to 250 KVA, 250.1 to 500 KVA, 500.1 to 1000 KVA, 1000.1 to 1200 KVA, and above 1200 KVA for lead acid, nickel-based, and lithium-ion battery chemistries. Among the end-user applications, the data centre has the highest demand for batteries, while less than 20KVA is the segment contributing to the highest battery revenue. The launch of cloud servers, colocation data centres, developments in public infrastructure, and banking network are all factors attributing to the battery-based UPS demand.

Less than 20KVA segment is the fragmented, commoditized market with a maximum number of battery manufacturers grabbing for market share. This segment caters to both OEM and UPS assemblers, offering batteries at competitive pricing; this segment has a low price per unit compared with all other segments. Penetration of lithium ion in this segment is less than other segments and predominantly in the North American and European region, while lead-acid is still the dominating chemistry in the price-sensitive Asian and African countries.

Key Issues Addressed

• Is the market growing, how long will it continue to grow, and at what rate?
• Are the existing competitors structured correctly to meet customer needs?
• What is the potential of lithium-ion chemistry in replacing lead-acid batteries in UPS?
• How will the structure of the market change with time? Is the market ripe for acquisitions?
• Is there a technological change happening in this market? How is the market evolving in battery choice?
• What is the influence of data centre applications and modular configuration to the UPS market?