Global smart meter shipments up in Q2

PARIS – Worldwide smart meter shipments totaled 18 million units in the second quarter of 2012, up by about 19 percent on a sequential basis, according to a new report by market research and consulting firm Pike Research.

"The second quarter shipment gains are encouraging, but in North America shipments will start to dwindle as major smart metering projects reach completion this year," commented senior research analyst Neil Strother, specifying that meter shipments grew in the United States in the second quarter.

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Strother continued: "The next phase of growth is shifting to projects in Western Europe and Latin America, where sizeable deployments are expected in the next couple of years. And, of course, China continues to deploy at a rapid pace as it strives to fulfill its goal of some 300 million smart meters by mid-decade."

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In the second quarter of 2012, Pike Research noted that China represented 73 percent of the global smart meter market. Chinese planners have indeed announced major deployments despite a slowing economy.

The European smart meter market has also significantly increased over the period, as smart meter rollouts gained momentum in Spain and the United Kingdom, Pike Research concluded.

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