Enterprises Competition Pattern of Suspension Insulators

At present, the insulators used in transmission lines are mainly 3kinds, porcelain, glass and composite. Among them, composite polymer insulator have such characteristics,  excellent antifouling performance, small weight, easy replication technology and relatively simple manufacturing process, and there are more domestic manufacturers; Glass suspension insulators have characters of good electromechanical properties and zero value self - blasting, but the umbrella structure is relatively simple. The ceramic insulators  have nearly one hundred years of operation experience in China, with rich umbrella structure and stable product operation. However, its inherent defects are not easy to be found, and it requires operation and maintenance such as deterioration detection. The production process of such products is complex, and there are few qualified suppliers for high-end products.
Ceramic, glass, composite, these three products have different performance, application focus is also different. Among them, the composite product is bar shape, which is mostly used in "hanging string". Porcelain and glass suspension insulators are disc shaped, and their application fields are intersected and they compete with each other. Domestic suppliers have developed more than 100. However, most of them are mainly producing medium and low voltage products, leading to the saturation of the middle and low end market. However, there are less than 15 key enterprises that take the lead in the market, lead the market development and technological innovation, and the market competition of high-end products is relatively mild. Up to now, ceramic insulators, glass suspension insulators and composite polymer insulator have basically formed the trend of "dividing the world into three parts" in the domestic market.
Ceramic suspension insulator is a traditional transmission and insulation equipment in China, with nearly 100 years of operation experience, and has been recognized by users. Such products are characterized by flexible appearance, complicated production process and high technical requirements for manufacturers, so there are few qualified new suppliers in the industry, especially in uhv field. This also limits the development of suspended porcelain insulators to some extent. Since 2012, China has started large-scale construction of uhv projects, and the existing three suppliers can no longer meet the construction needs, which provides a good opportunity for glass manufacturers.