EN 
PT_BR 
The world market was surprised in the second week of July 2019, when the electronics giant ABB announced its exit from the solar inverter market. But the company was not the first to cause this type of surprise to the market. There are precedents: in June 2013, German giant Siemens, after a brief foray into the solar inverter market, also announced its exit.
Could this be a curse for European companies in the face of Chinese competition? Not so much: the also giant SMA, although today with a reduced share, is still one of the most respected manufacturers of solar inverters on the global market. On the other hand, the advancement of Chinese companies such as Sungrow, Huawei and Growatt has certainly increasingly reduced market shares of European giants, making it difficult for companies in which the solar business does not represent the largest share of their revenue to operate, as is the case with ABB.
With its exit from the market, ABB will need to pay 470 million dollars to transfer its inverter unit to the Italian FIMER. The agreement between the two companies should be concluded at the beginning of 2020 and will be done smoothly, so as not to cause negative impacts on customers and employees, according to a commitment already signed between the parties.
ABB's presence in Brazil had been occurring with imported equipment. Without an inverter factory in the country, the Zurich-based giant employs 800 people around the world, having production plants and development centers in Finland, Italy and India.
The reasons for ABB's departure are not fully understood. The company did not provide further information to the market, but everything indicates that the solar division was an obstacle to the company's profitability in the electricity market. ABB, with its electrical energy division, will continue to dedicate itself to the storage and electric vehicles, a trend on the rise and with the promise of high profitability. The agreement with FIMER is important to provide continuity of warranty and after-sales services for solar inverters that are already on the market after ABB's definitive exit.
