Smart Grid market research

The Smart Grid in Asia, 2012-2016: Markets, Technologies and Strategies

The cumulative smart grid technology markets of China, Japan, and South Korea are currently valued at nearly US$8.5 billion, with GTM Research forecasting that value to grow to $19 billion by 2016. China represents 70% of the Asia smart grid market, offering some of the broadest market opportunities to smart grid players in Asia. Japan and South Korea represent 20% and 10% respectively.

At over 180 pages, The Smart Grid in Asia, 2012-2016 is the definitive source for organizations looking to capitalize on Asia's predominant smart grid markets. A clear understanding of these countries' respective energy scenarios, as well as the associated smart grid technology and deployment trends will be crucial to achieving meaningful entry. The report provides a detailed five-year smart grid forecast, domestic vendor taxonomies, and strategic perspectives on how smart grid players should position themselves in each market.

FIGURE: Smart Grid Market Assessment for 2016

Source: GTM Research

While evolving rapidly, it is important to note that each market's growth will be characterized by the specific needs of their utilities and existing grids. The vast majority of smart grid investment in China will center around transmission, distribution automation and automatic metering reading (AMR) to support a developing grid and robust renewables build-out. In Japan, the sunsetting of all of the country's nuclear plants has created an acute need for demand response, home energy management and smart meter deployments. While in South Korea, the market is developing quite differently; for the country with the most reliable grid in the world, South Korea and its chaebols are looking to develop next-gen smart grid technologies across all segments primarily for global export.

In addition, the report identifies the leading strategies for addressing each of Asia's smart grid markets, and analyzes the companies that are currently winning big. This list includes; ABB, Accenture, BPL Global, Echelon, Freescale, GE, Holley Metering, Moxa, RuggedCom, Siemens, State Grid Corporation of China, Wasion, XD Electric, XJ Group.

Listen to an interview between the report's co-author, Kamil Bojanczyk, and Greentech Media's CEO, Scott Clavenna about the report and the highlights of the findings.

Download the report's brochure for a complete Table of Contents and List of Figures as well as more in-depth information on the report's analysis.

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Report Author


  • Kamil Bojanczyk
  • Consultant
  • contact

Kamil Bojanczyk is a researcher and consultant in smart grid technologies. His engagements include Cornell University, GTM Research, Tokyo Electric, and Wireless Glue Networks. Kamil worked for over two years as a research engineer in the Energy and Environment Research Lab at Cornell University, where he led a team to work on projects including a real-time pricing mechanism with renewable energy for Verizon Wireless, a home energy management system demonstration, and a vehicle-to-building project with GM and OnStar, utilizing the Chevy Volt. He received research funding from Verizon Wireless and the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS). Prior to Cornell, Kamil worked at Barclays Capital for a year as a technology analyst in equity derivatives and at Wireless Glue Network, where he worked on home area network applications. Kamil’s independent consulting work includes a demand response assessment of the U.S. market for a major international meter vendor, advising an investment bank on clean technology investments, and bringing a small (30MW installed) European solar developer to America.

Kamil is an active board observer at the MIT Enterprise Forum of New York City. He is also involved with the NYSERDA-funded Energy InfoTech NYC group. Kamil consults for New York tech startups and ran the highly successful TEDxBigApple Disruptive Innovation event in New York this past February. Kamil graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in Biological and Environmental Engineering.

Report Author


  • David J. Leeds
  • Chief Smart Grid Analyst
  • contact

David Leeds directs the smart grid research practice at GTM.  Mr. Leeds has guest lectured on the subject at MIT, Stanford, and The Wharton School of Business (University of Pennsylvania). He has been quoted as an expert by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post; his perspective pieces have appeared in a variety of publications including BusinessWeek, Power Magazine and Fortune.  He is the author of the groundbreaking report “The Smart Grid in 2010,” which has been downloaded more than 10,000 times.

An avid world-traveler, David has come into contact with many of our most pressing environmental and social challenges. His research, focused on the convergence of IT, telecom and energy networks, leads him to believe that a smarter future is possible if we can reinvent our collective relationship with energy. Mr. Leeds completed his degree in international business and finance at Trinity College at Oxford (U.K.) and the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. He lives and works in New York City.

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Single Site License: $2,995

Enterprise License: $4,995

Enterprise licenses are for organizations with multiple research users. Enterprise license customers are permitted to share this report internally, among multiple locations of the organizations, and host the report on an Intranet and make it accessible to employees. The report may not be shared with outside entities.

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value added elements

  • Historical profiles of each country's electricity market and grid investment roadmap.
  • Utility deployment case studies for different smart grid technologies in each country.
  • Current market valuations with five-year forecasts through 2016 by technology.
  • Competitive analysis on domestic M&A / foreign-entrant strategies for each market.
  • Vendor taxonomies with snapshots of the most active 37 vendors in the region.

strategic inquiries

  • What are utility smart grid deployment trends in each of these countries?
  • Which smart grid technology segments offer the best opportunities and why?
  • How are vendor business models evolving in each country and how is this affecting smart grid investment?
  • Which domestic and foreign firms are best-positioned to take advantage of these markets in the near- and long-term?
  • How can foreign vendors best make a play in Asia?

contact: Tate Ishimuro

Phone: 415.777.9917