Global shipments of smart meters are set to triple from 2011 to 2016. That is according to the IHS iSuppli Industrial Electronics Service, which has claimed that this trend will also spur the doubling of the associated semiconductor market during the same period.
By 2016, worldwide smart meter shipments will rise to 62 million units, up from 20.5 million in 2011. Global sales of semiconductors used in these smart meters, meanwhile, are forecast to rise to $1.1 billion in 2016, up from $505.6 million this year.
This is, IHS iSuppli explained, largely due to their capability to save energy and to improve the efficiency of electrical grids.
"The original motivation for replacing conventional meters with smart meters was energy savings," Jacobo Carrasco Heres, industrial electronics research analyst for HIS iSuppli, commented.
"However," he added, "a more compelling incentive is the instrumentation of the grid. With the use of smart meters, utilities finally will have a well-mapped grid that will enable them to plan electrical generation and manage their resources more efficiently."
The increasing prevalence of smart meters is, in part, being driven by government support and regulations. In the US, for example, stimulus money from the Smart Grid Investment Grant program is simplifying the replacement of conventional meters with new smart models.
The European Union, meanwhile, has publically stated that it hopes to see an 80 percent conversion to smart meters by 2020, which means shipments of smart meters would have to rise to 180 million units.
In spite of this broadly positive outlook, it should be noted that deployments actually are progressing more slowly than had been expected from a few years ago. This is largely due to the ongoing economic troubles in Europe and the US, which mean that the level of investment in smart grids and smart meters are falling short of expectations.
Another significant factor to consider is consumer acceptance, with many people still unconvinced that smart meters offer a better alternative to their conventional meter.