Summary
Despite a global economic slowdown, the outlook for the worldwide external ac-dc power supply market is expected to remain strong. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the world economy is projected to grow at a 3.7% percent rate in 2008. The IMF lowered its global 2008 growth projection from 4.1%. That would be the weakest performance since 2003, when world growth was 3.6%. It would also be a marked slowdown from the 4.9% pace the global economy achieved last year. In fact, the IMF sees a 25% chance that global growth will drop to 3% or less in 2008 and 2009, which is equivalent to a global recession. In spite of these pessimistic numbers, the demand for applications fueling the external ac-dc power supply market is expected to remain healthy, with some of the strongest growth coming from the Asian region. This growth will have a positive effect on both the OEM and consumer market and will contribute to the expansion of the external ac-dc power supply market for 2008.
The worldwide external power supply (EPS) market is projected to grow from $6.7 billion in 2008 to almost $10.0 billion in 2013, a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2%. The worldwide EPS unit market is expected to grow at a somewhat faster pace, increasing from 2.0 billion units in 2008 to 3.3 billion units in 2013, a CAGR of 11.1%. Although this market is mature, and a number of segments have slowed, the industry as a whole is still strong and expanding. For the purpose of this report, the worldwide market includes three regions: North America, Europe and Asia. Overall, we expect steady growth for the external ac-dc power supply market over the forecast period in each of these three regions.
The external power supply market described in this report covers 22 key applications that use external power supplies. In an effort to more accurately reflect recent updates in consumer preferences, regulation, advancements in technology and migration among wattage categories, a number of changes have been made since the last report. Among them are the addition of several new applications and the elimination of others. Included in the last report and excluded from this one are Public Brach (PBX) Equipment, Portable Audio Players and Flat Bed Scanners. New applications added to this edition are Portable Media MP3/MP4 Players and Personal Navigational Devices (PND).
Report Description
This report looks at the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) market, and will not include the EPS replacement market. It includes forecasts in units and dollars and detailed discussions of trends in average selling prices in each of the forecast segments. The market figures presented in the following sections will be based on the cost of EPS units to OEMs, not to the end users. In addition, the cost of each EPS is assumed to decline over time. Price declines will vary from wattage level to wattage level and between various types of applications. The following sections of this report will present forecasts in units, dollars and pricing trends. They will be broken down by region, wattage, packaging, regulation, and by end-use application.
Each end-use application will be further broken down by sub-segment. The sub-segments include Communications, Computers, Consumer and Portable Medical. The Communications sub-segment includes mobile phones, cordless phones, modems and professional two-way radios; the Computer sub-segment includes flat panel monitors, portable handheld computers, LAN equipment, notebook computers, portable barcode RFID readers, portable printers and Wi-Fi access points; the Consumer sub-segment includes camcorders, digital cameras, gaming devices, small flat panel TVs, portable media MP3/MP4 players, portable video (DVD) players, power tools, professional video recorders and personal navigation devices. Due to its small size, the medical segment will not be broken down by application, and will be presented cumulatively. A detailed methodology used in determining the forecast assumptions in this edition is presented in an appendix at the end of this report.