Analysis of the current status and technology trends of the UPS power supply industry

As a key infrastructure in data centers, industry, communications, medical and other fields, the UPS (uninterruptible power supply) industry has continued to evolve in recent years with the acceleration of digital transformation, the development of new energy and the complexity of power demand. The following is an analysis of the current status of the UPS power supply industry:

1.Market size and growth

Global market:

According to data from third-party institutions (such as MarketsandMarkets, Grand View Research), the global UPS market size in 2023 is about US$10 billion, and it is expected to grow at an average annual compound growth rate of 5%-7% by 2030. The driving factors include:

Data center expansion (cloud computing, AI computing power demand explosion).

The demand for stable power for 5G base stations and edge computing deployment.

The high requirements for power reliability of industrial automation and medical equipment.

China market:

China is one of the fastest growing markets for UPS. Benefiting from the "East Data West Computing" project, new infrastructure policies and manufacturing upgrades, local brands such as Kehua Data, KSTAR, and Easy to occupy the mid-range market, and foreign brands (Schneider, Eaton, Vertiv) dominate the high-end field.

2.Technology Trends

Lithium-ion batteries replace lead-acid batteries:

Lithium-ion UPS has become a trend due to its small size, long life, and high efficiency (although the cost is high), especially suitable for data centers and household energy storage scenarios.

The rise of modular UPS:

Supports hot-swap and elastic expansion to meet the flexible needs of data centers, and representative manufacturers include Huawei and Vertiv.

Intelligence and digitalization:

Integrate AI predictive maintenance and remote monitoring (IoT) to improve energy efficiency management (such as ABB's digital UPS solution).

High energy efficiency and greening:

Under the "dual carbon" goal, high-frequency tower UPS and ECO mode (such as Eaton's 93% efficiency models) have become mainstream.

3.Main challenges

Cost pressure: Fluctuations in the prices of raw materials (such as lithium and chips) affect profits.

Homogeneous competition: There is little difference between products in the mid- and low-end markets, and price wars are frequent.

Technology iteration risks: Continuous investment in research and development is required to cope with silicon-based devices (such as SiC) and software-defined power trends.

4.Future opportunities

Emerging application scenarios:

Edge data centers (need miniaturized UPS).

New energy supporting (such as photovoltaic + energy storage + UPS microgrid).

Overseas market: Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other regions have strong infrastructure demand.

Policy drive: China's "14th Five-Year Plan" digital economy development plan, the European Green Agreement and other policies drive demand.

The UPS industry is transforming from traditional backup power to intelligent, high-efficiency, and integrated energy storage, and technical barriers and market demand are increasing simultaneously. Companies with core technologies (such as lithium battery management, modular design) and vertical industry solution capabilities will be more competitive, while small and medium-sized enterprises need to break through through niche markets (such as medical and military).