Motor Starter Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends And Forecast (2025 - 2030)

Global Motor Starter Market Trends and Insights

Surge in Industrial Automation Investments

Industrial automation budgets continue to rise as manufacturers seek to achieve labor productivity gains, enhance supply chain resilience, and integrate Industry 4.0. China’s five-year Action Plan targets 25% higher capital-equipment spending by 2027, while Thailand already operates 3,000 industrial robots across assembly lines and logistics cells.^{[1]Xinhua News Agency, “China Releases Five-Year Action Plan for Smart Manufacturing,” xinhuanet.com} Rockwell Automation’s 2025 launch of the M100 electronic motor starter marks a shift toward intelligent point-on-wave switching, which reduces harmonic distortion and simplifies predictive analytics. Manufacturers such as Tenaris achieve more than 90% anomaly-prediction accuracy after installing ABB smart sensors on 460 motors, illustrating the quantifiable benefits of digital starters. As skilled labor shortages intensify, factories are prioritizing compact, digitally connected motor starters that reduce unplanned downtime, accelerate commissioning, and integrate with cloud-based MES platforms.

Global Energy-Efficiency Mandates for Motors

Regulations now demand premium-efficiency drive systems. The European Union’s Regulation 2019/1781 made IE4 ratings mandatory for motors with a power rating of 75-200 kW, starting in July 2023, affecting approximately 380 million installed units and targeting 110 TWh of annual savings by 2030. Singapore, Vietnam, and other ASEAN economies follow with IE3 or higher thresholds, creating an even broader base for retrofits. Siemens’ fully electronic e-Starter utilizes silicon-carbide MOSFETs to deliver 1,000 times faster short-circuit protection and minimal conduction losses. Premium efficiency skews the product mix toward electronically controlled soft starters, which enable smooth acceleration without inrush current spikes. Suppliers that align their portfolios with super-premium classes capture higher margins, while legacy electromechanical designs tend toward commoditization.

Expansion of Water & Wastewater Infrastructure

Governments are modernizing legacy treatment plants to meet population growth and climate-resilience goals. Brazilian utility Saneago achieved 25% energy savings by replacing mechanical starters with ABB integrated drive-starter packages across four pumping stations. Smart-city blueprints include real-time flow monitoring, which demands starters capable of variable torque optimization and remote diagnostics. Rockwell Automation’s Connected Enterprise reference architecture for water treatment combines IEC 61800-9 compliance, SIL-rated safety, and seamless SCADA integration. As utilities adopt predictive maintenance, sensor-rich soft starters that collect vibration and temperature data and feed it to cloud analytics are gaining traction.

Ageing Power-Plant Modernisation Programs

Thermal and hydroelectric plants require advanced motor control when repowered for grid stabilization roles. Eaton converts idle steam-turbine alternators into synchronous condensers, while ABB upgrades hydro units with digital speed-regulation and excitation packages. Such projects bring 20-year life-cycle contracts for high-reliability starters that withstand frequent cycling and fault-ride-through demands. Cleveland-Cliffs’ USD 150 million transformer plant underlines the downstream demand ripple in electrical balance-of-plant equipment.

Rapid Substitution by Variable-Frequency Drives

VFD penetration erodes demand for traditional starters whenever variable speed and energy efficiency outweigh the simplicity of starters. Danfoss reports 60% energy savings in centrifugal pumps after VFD retrofits.^{[2] Danfoss A/S, “Energy Savings with VFDs in Pump Applications,” danfoss.com} Natural Resources Canada concludes that drives outperform mechanical dampers, advancing torque control while slashing maintenance. Starter vendors respond by integrating soft-starter modes into hybrid drive-starter platforms, but pure speed-regulation applications still migrate to VFDs.

Cyber-Security Risks in Connected MCCs

Increased OT-IT convergence exposes motor control centers to ransomware and network-intrusion events. ARC Advisory Group warns that an average cyber-incident costs USD 1.1 million in immediate downtime and remedial expenses.^{[3]ARC Advisory Group, “OT Cybersecurity Incident Cost Analysis,” arcweb.com} Compliance with IEC 62443 and NIST frameworks can increase product-development budgets and lengthen certification cycles.

Segment Analysis

By Starter Type: Soft Starters Drive Innovation

Soft starters contributed USD 2.12 billion to the motor starter market size in 2024 and are expected to outpace the overall 6.67% industry CAGR with 8.7% growth through 2030. Growth stems from IIoT functionality, torque control accuracy, and thermal management advantages that extend motor lifespan. Direct-on-line units still dominate constant-speed conveyors and HVAC blowers due to their low upfront cost and simple maintenance routines. Siemens’ November 2024 SIMATIC ET 200SP e-Starter validates the premium segment’s direction toward silicon-carbide power devices, offering a 1 µs short-circuit response and opening service windows for predictive analytics. Star-delta, autotransformer, and slip-ring starters remain relevant in heavy-torque lifts, though their combined share gradually declines as electronic soft starters add customizable ramp profiles. Across retrofit projects, soft-starter control modules integrate seamlessly with OPC UA gateways, providing machine builders with a single firmware environment—an attribute that drives procurement preference. By 2030, soft starters are projected to secure more than 40% of the motor starter market share as OEMs standardize on electronic solutions for modular production floors.

The mid-term engineering roadmap focuses on heat-dissipation materials, cybersecurity-hardened firmware, and embedded metrology that feeds real-time power-factor data to plant dashboards. Component obsolescence mitigation is also crucial; several vendors now guarantee 15-year product availability, aligning with typical machine replacement cycles. Bundled warranty services, including remote firmware updates, differentiate suppliers, especially in life-science packaging lines where validation downtimes are punitive. Such service-centric models enhance brand stickiness and annuity revenue streams, ensuring long-term dominance for innovators in the electronic-starter class.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By Power Rating: Mid-Range Motors Accelerate Growth

Motors with a capacity of up to 5 kW retained the largest 47.5% share of the motor starter market in 2024, generating USD 2.96 billion in revenue. Compact agricultural pumps, textile spindles, and refrigeration compressors constitute the bulk of installations. However, the 5-50 kW tier is forecast to expand at a 7.3% CAGR, elevating its contribution to nearly USD 3.1 billion by 2030. This tier dominates packaging machinery, intralogistics conveyors, and pharmaceutical granulators, where mid-range torque pairs with moderate current draw are utilized. Modular I/O cabinets have standardized slot heights around this range, facilitating faster field-retrofit swapping and encouraging OEM standardization.

Above 50 kW, high-torque applications, such as crusher mills and marine propulsion, form a niche but critical segment. Mitsubishi Electric’s XB-series HVIGBT module, rated 3.3 kV/1,500 A, lowers switching losses by 15% and improves inverter MTBF, underlining the technical push toward higher voltage build-outs. Vendors focusing here bundle condition-monitoring analytics that forecast bearing wear and torque ripple in real time. Custom busbar design, high-speed fuses, and arc-flash containment become key differentiators, driving premium ASPs and higher margins than the commoditized low-power range.

By Voltage Class: Medium Voltage Gains Momentum

Low-voltage equipment, defined as equipment with a voltage below 1 kV, accounted for 70.8% of 2024 revenue, primarily due to its widespread adoption in commercial buildings, food processing, and light assembly. Yet, the medium-voltage band (1-35 kV) is expected to drive growth, projected to contribute an incremental USD 1.1 billion to the motor starter market size by 2030. Mining electrification and utility-scale water pumping drive the uplift, necessitating starters with redundant SCR paths, synchronous detection, and arc-proof switchgear. ABB’s trolley-assist at Boliden’s Aitik mine highlights the robust duty cycle and energy-saving synergy achievable when pairing medium-voltage starters with regenerative braking.

High-voltage starters above 35 kV remain primarily limited to steel mills, oil-sands upgraders, and pumped-storage hydro facilities, but they deliver higher unit margins. IEC 60076-11 dry-type transformer compatibility, real-time partial-discharge monitoring, and forced-air ventilation packages define winning specifications. Suppliers focusing on medium- to high-voltage systems adopt modular shipping units, simplifying site erection and commissioning in remote geographies, such as Andean copper mines.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By End-user: Water Treatment Leads Growth

Manufacturing facilities drew USD 1.51 billion in initial purchases during 2024, but water and wastewater operations, representing USD 970 million, are expected to grow the fastest, surpassing USD 1.6 billion by 2030. The segment’s 8.4% CAGR is supported by stimulus-funded pipe replacement in North America and desalination in the Middle East. ABB’s success with Saneago’s Brazil project, delivering 25% energy savings, illustrates ROI-driven adoption cases. Meanwhile, mining operators are introducing ruggedized medium-voltage starters to power all-electric haul trucks, which dovetail with their corporate decarbonization pledges.

Food and beverage producers prioritize hygienic stainless-steel enclosures and IP69K wash-down starters. Oil and gas downstream installations require explosion-proof housings and SIL 2 or higher certification. Building services contractors specify starters with BACnet/IP capability to integrate directly into BMS dashboards, while pulp-and-paper mills favor units that can handle high inertia during thick-stock pump startup. Vendors who localize firmware language packs, offer modular cooling choices, and implement fieldbus protocols tailored to specific industries have captured higher customer lifetime values and reduced attrition.

Geography Analysis

The Asia-Pacific region sustained 43.6% of global revenue in 2024 and is expected to remain the largest region, thanks to its concentrated electronics, EV, and process-industry footprints. China’s policy to lift capital-equipment investment by 25% through 2027 supports continued soft-starter penetration in high-throughput production lines. India aims for manufacturing to contribute 25% of GDP by 2025, prompting accelerated greenfield factory construction that specifies IE3/IE4 compliant starters. ASEAN’s focus on EV clusters attracts Chinese OEMs, creating localized demand for motion-control systems throughout the stamping, painting, and final assembly processes.

North America embeds modern starters in data center cooling skids, modular switchgear for utility-scale battery farms, and ammonia compressors used in cold storage logistics. Aging thermal plants across the United States undergo synchronous-condenser repowering, driving medium-voltage starter replacement cycles with enhanced inertia-ride-through capability. Europe’s mandatory IE4 rules shift procurement toward premium-efficiency soft starters and hybrid drive-starter packages. Retrofit programs in Germany, France, and Scandinavia enhance digital monitoring requirements to offset skilled labor gaps and maintain OEE levels above 80%.

South America’s surge in copper and lithium mining in Chile and Peru underpins medium-voltage starter demand for pit-haul conveyors and gearless mills. Brazil’s water-utility upgrades pipeline booster stations with soft starters that integrate leakage-detection analytics, reducing non-revenue water loss. Middle East megaprojects, such as Saudi Arabia’s NEOM development and the UAE's desalination plants, necessitate stainless-steel starters capable of operating at 55 °C ambient temperatures and providing extreme dust ingress protection. Africa’s mining electrification in Botswana and Zambia promotes trolley-assist schemes, requiring robust starter cabinets resistant to vibration and abrasive dust.