According to the latest research from IMS Research, Suntech shipped more modules during the second quarter of 2010 than any other company, beating previous market leader First Solar for the first time since Q3’08.
Although First Solar topped the production rankings in Q2’10, not all of its modules were shipped in the quarter and its shipments bucked the industry trend and in fact declined over the previous quarter.
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Sharp maintained its position as the third largest supplier in the quarter, which it has now held for the last four quarters. Fourth and fifth places then went to Trina Solar and Yingli, who’s shipments grew significantly (by 16% and 14% respectively) over the previous quarter. High demand and full utilization of production capacities also enabled the two suppliers to increase their gross margins to 32.1% and 33.5%.
“The three largest Chinese suppliers performed very strongly in the second quarter,” commented PV research analyst, Sam Wilkinson. “Suntech, Trina and Yingli’s combined shipments increased by 14%, significantly more than Sharp and First Solar, the other suppliers in the top five.” “IMS Research predicts that total module shipments will increase for the sixth consecutive quarter in Q3, driven by continuing high demand from all markets, including Germany and France, where completed installations are predicted to continue to surge despite recent cuts to the countries’ incentive schemes,” Wilkinson concluded.