ABB has increased its market share of drives in the UK heating and ventilation (HVAC) industry to 30% and is aiming to reach even higher by the end of this year. The position has been achieved after only three years’ presence in the market.
The expansion is in line with the forecasts made when ABB entered the HVAC market with its drive products in 2002. ABB now estimates that it is the largest supplier of HVAC drives in the UK. The growth has mainly been achieved at the expense of other major manufacturers, but also through growth by the market as a whole.
The initiative in the UK is part of a worldwide push by ABB to break into HVAC, which is one of the fastest growing application areas for variable speed drives. The HVAC business is now making a healthy addition to ABB’s sales of drives. Over the past year, the factory output of drives up to 110 kW grew by 67%. Most of this was due to increased sales in HVAC.
“Although we were newcomers on the market in 2002, there has been little resistance to change amongst customers,” says Nick Thorne, HVAC drives sales manager for ABB. “ABB’s standard drive for HVAC is widely acknowledged to be the best product in the market. The only obstacle to change is when there are existing frame agreements in place.”
The growth of ABB’s market share has intensified the price pressure in the market, mainly as a result of longer established competitors trying to protect their market share. As a result, prices have been reduced by some 20% over the past year. There have also been product launches by competitors of very basic products, aiming to win business on price alone.
“We are not taking part in any price war,” insists Thorne. “We merely follow the market. Nor are we threatened by the simpler products now being launched. Our product has a range of features that the customers want. If we wanted to tackle the low cost end of the market, ABB has other products in its portfolio with which we could achieve this.”
ABB’s standard drive for HVAC comes pre-programmed with all common HVAC applications. The panel is as easy to handle as a mobile phone and the set-up can be done in seconds. The drive has interfaces for all common bus standards, including the recently introduced BACnet, and includes many other useful features such as a fault logger and a real-time clock.
Thorne is expecting further growth in the years to come: “Energy prices are on the way up. At the moment, there are not enough incentives to encourage users to opt for energy efficient technology, but the coming energy price hikes will change this. The forthcoming building regulations, with its more stringent requirements for ventilation systems, will also lead to an increase in the usage of drives in buildings.”