China’s xEV (plug-in) vehicle market through 2016 has been roiled by news of government fining auto makers for falsely claiming subsidies. Though the scandal has reduced some of the expansionary momentum in the Chinese plug-in vehicle market, sales are expected to grow significantly in this year’s fourth quarter because buyers are spurred by the further reduction of purchase subsidies next year.
Taiwan’s government has focused on expanding the island’s PV power generation as part of its plan to abandon nuclear power. In terms of targets, Taiwan aims to add 1.52GW of PV capacity between mid-2016 and mid-2018 and ultimately achieve a cumulative capacity of 20GW in 2025. If 1.52GW plan is successfully implemented, Taiwan will be joining Thailand as one of the world’s 10 largest PV markets in 2017 with an annual demand reaching 900MW, according to EnergyTrend, a division of TrendForce. With the global PV demand being almost flat next year, Taiwan is now considered a highly prospective market for major enterprises within the supply chain.
PV product manufacturers in Taiwan and China saw orders returning in the second half of September, while prices of polysilicon, wafers and PV cells started to rally after reaching their lows, according to EnergyTrend, a division of TrendForce. The capacity utilization rates of many manufacturers also rose from under 50% back to 70~80%. As the Chinese government has planned to significantly cut its renewable energy subsidy in the middle of 2017, EnergyTrend expects the country’s PV system installation demand to take off again towards the end of 2016.
Battery fires linked to Samsung’s latest flagship Galaxy Note 7 has led to a major fallout in the smartphone market. “This incident exposes Samsung’s flawed strategy of allocating most of its smartphone battery orders to Samsung SDI,” said Duff Lu, research manager of EnergyTrend, division of TrendForce.
EnergyTrend, a division of TrendForce, reports that prices across the PV supply chain have collapsed to new lows in the second half of 2016 due to plunging demand. Furthermore, quotes of PV cells and wafers are not expected to bottom out this September. The current market analysis indicates that most manufacturers are not achieving profitability.