IP Video Bucks Recession
- By Steven Titch
- Feb 01, 2009
The worldwide market for video surveillance cameras and software will reach $14.3 billion in 2012, according to a new research report.
The total market was estimated to be worth $7.7 billion in 2007, according to “The World Market for CCTV and Video Surveillance Equipment,” published in November by IMS Research. The Wellingborough, U.K., firm forecasts the market to increase 13.4 percent per year between now and 2012.
Much of the growth will be driven by markets in Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Latin America. Combined growth for these regions is expected to remain above 20 per cent for the foreseeable future, and the combined value of these regions is expected to approach $2 billion in 2012.
In Asia, China is the powerhouse behind video surveillance growth. Government investment in Safe City projects remains high. Some 660 cities have been earmarked for development and new installations calling for thousands of cameras have continued to appear over the last year. China is also host to two major international events in the next two years, the World Expo in Shanghai and the Asian Games in Guangzhou, each of which will require substantial infrastructure investment.
In more established markets, there has been a noticeable slowdown in video surveillance spending. Overall, IMS forecasts that the video surveillance market in Western Europe, the U.S. and Japan will to grow by slightly more than 4% in 2009. Retail and banking verticals will be hardest hit as consumer spending slows and financial institutions remain shaky. The transportation and government verticals fare better because video surveillance is often viewed as essential for ensuring public safety, and substantial government funding for it still exists. However, IMS sees significant recovery in these regions in 2011 and 2012 as the relentless trend to network surveillance continues.
“The long term trends that will affect the CCTV and video surveillance market are the shift to network video surveillance, the increasing use of video content analysis, and the anticipated increased interoperability between network products,” said Simon Harris, senior analyst at IMS Research and the principal author of the report, in a statement. “The economic downturn will have negative impact in some market verticals, but overall market growth is expected to remain at a solid level. Our research concludes that the market for IP video surveillance management software will remain very strong.”
IP-based surveillance systems will continue to grow faster than the analog market, IMS predicts. Revenues for IP video surveillance management software, both open platform and proprietary, will top $1 billion by 2012, up from $236.2 million in 2007. The analog video surveillance market, however, is only forecast for 5.9 percent growth over the same period, IMS reports.
IMS Research said open platform systems will garner a larger share of future software revenues, stating in the report that “more advanced users will typically opt for softwareonly solutions for the greater flexibility and easier integration with other systems like access control, point-of-sale, ATMs, and more.”
In terms of verticals, the U.S. education sector remains poised for explosive growth, according to a separate IMS report. The market for video surveillance equipment in the US education sector is predicted to grow more than 20 percent over the next five years, according to “Security in Education – A Survey of Educational Establishments in the USA.” A large number of schools are still without security equipment amid a climate that sees sharper awareness about baseline security processes among student, staff and parents, the report found, which suggests that there will be ample opportunity for security vendors to sell into this market for some time to come.
The report provides details about the types of security systems being used; an assessment of the specific technical requirements; and the impact of new techniques, such as video content analysis and IP technology. It offers key recommendations and concludes what the future holds for this industry.
The report summary is available at www.imsresearch.com. Registration is required.
This article originally appeared in the February 2009 issue of Network-Centric Security.
About the Author
Steven Titch is editor of Network-Centric Security magazine.