Sector insights

Posted by Michael Mendolia
For many years now, the rapidly growing photovoltaic industry has been primarily a European phenomenon – in 2011, 75% of all new installed capacity was located in Europe – and the countries getting the most attention have been Germany and Italy. With over 24.6 GW of cumulative capacity at the end of 2011, Germany has maintained its status as the leading country in terms of total installed capacity, but last year Italy was the top market, with 9.3 GW of new PV connections compared to 7.5 GW for Germany. Nonetheless, prospects for continued growth in Germany and Italy are now considerably bleaker, due to recent sharp cuts in governmental subsidies, compounded by the ongoing financial crisis in the euro zone.

Posted by Michael Chase
Our aerospace expert and business partner Michael Chase shares with us his insight from aerospace trends, this time focusing on the helicopter market.

Posted by Michael Chase
Our aerospace expert and business partner Michael Chase shares with us his insight from aerospace trends, including the latest Pre-Owned Business Jet, Business Turboprop Aircraft and Helicopter market information. 

IBT Partners will be present this year at Farnborough International Airshow that takes place from the 9th to the 15th July, representing our clients that are looking for business partners, distribution channels, and  seeking for new investment opportunities. If you are planning or considering to visit this trade show, and would like us to assist you with trade show preparation, meeting end-clients, signing contracts, or simply to meet us there, please contact us.

Posted by Michael Mendolia
Even in the midst of global economic weakness, the global photovoltaic market grew in 2011, though the exact figures remain in dispute.  Bank Sarasin’s highly-regarded report from November 2011 estimated that in 2011 the newly installed PV capacity was at 21 GW, reflecting only a 3% growth since 2010.  In contrast, the solar market report published in 2012 by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) indicated that 27.7 GW of photovoltaic installations were newly connected in 2011.  Notably, the EPIA analysis discusses projects that were put in place in 2010 but were only connected to a grid in 2011. Such projects were particularly common in Italy, where systems which were installed towards the end of 2010 were only connected by mid-2011 and thus benefited from more generous Feed-In Tariffs (FITs).  In fact, EPIA reports that Italy was the top PV market in 2011 with 9 GW of newly connected systems, catapulting itself ahead of Germany with only 7.5 GW.

IBT Partners will again be present at EuroSatory, Europe’s most important trade show for the defence industry. Several of our clients are attending and we look forward to helping them optimise their trade show participation, notably to meet potential end-clients and sign contracts. If you are interested in learning more, please contact us.

Silicon Valley in California is the world’s leading IT cluster. However, to drive innovation even further, there is a need for healthy competition. This fact was stressed by Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt at the Le Web conference in Paris in December. European managing director of Facebook, Joanna Shields, also agreed with Schmidt that the European IT cluster would be in a city, where innovation is starting to happen. She further gave examples of London, Paris and Berlin as the top candidates. Other industry experts also emphasize the importance of Barcelona, Amsterdam and Madrid as the next important IT city clusters.

Posted by Michael Mendolia
The highly publicized Autolib’ electric car-sharing program was launched on the streets of Paris last month.  Although many other cities have similar programs, the Paris initiative is notably larger – with 250 of the four-seat compact BlueCars already on the road, to be increased to 2,000 by summer.  Car-sharing of traditional gasoline-powered vehicles is not new to Paris – Caisse Commune (now operated by Transdev) has been around since 1999, and Mobizen (now operated by Veolia Transport) since 2007 – but in the new program, the Autolib’ cars, which were developed through a collaboration between Italian car designer Pininfarina and Groupe Bolloré,  are powered by lithium ion polymer batteries.  The program also addresses one of the primary obstacles to the widespread adoption of electric cars – the lack of infrastructure.  There are now 1,200 charging stations and parking spaces reserved exclusively for Autolib’ users on Paris streets.