TMEIC, the inverter manufacturing alliance between Toshiba and Mitsubishi, is to mark its first foray into the US market with the formation of a new North America subsidiary.
The company has launched a North America subsidiary, TMEIC Power Electronics Products Corporation, which will produce TMEIC’s PV inverters from a new base in Houston, Texas.
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“This new production capacity is TMEIC’s most recent commitment to serving North American industries. We will continue to integrate our latest and most advanced technologies developed in our power electronics business into the Houston factory in order to satisfy customers’ needs,” said Kiyotaka Machida, president and CEO of TMEIC.
“This new factory is one of a series of enhancements to our global production and supply network being developed all over the world, including the Americas, India and China.”
Production at the new facility is due to begin this autumn.
Headquartered in Tokyo, TEMIC has so far been focused on Japan’s buoyant market, but its plans to enter North America underline its explosive growth. According to rankings published in April by market research firm IHS, TMEIC was the world’s fourth largest inverter supplier in 2013, up from joint tenth in 2012.
The move bears out recent predictions by analysts that TMEIC would be among a number of fast-growing Asian inverter manufacturers looking to enter new markets.
Writing in blog post for PV Tech earlier this year, IHS analyst Sam Wilkinson, wrote that along with fellow Japanese inverter suppliers, Omron and Tabuchi, TEIMC was in prime position to contemplate international expansion. “The scale and expertise that these suppliers have gathered on their home turf makes them well placed to look further afield for international opportunities,” Wilkinson wrote.
Wilkinson highlighted TMEIC’s acquisition in April of the Indian fab of European manufactuer AEG as evidence of its international ambitions.
Earlier this year Japan's Yaskawa gained a firm foothold in the US market with the acquisition of Solectria Renewables.