Security concerns driving video surveillance market

BANGALORE, INDIA: In an era when security concerns loom large over every sector of the global village, owing to terror attacks and security breaches, basic things like surveillance and security solutions are being looked upon and scrutinized by market players.

Surveillance technology has become a part-n-parcel for any industry today. It has come a long way from being mere a device to identify the unauthorised, unidentified objects at manufacturing and retail outlets, to a system used to track consumers' eyeball movements and analyse the shoppers' behaviour and more.

There are a plethora of surveillance systems, such as biometrics, CCTV and RFID, available in the market today, which differ significantly in terms of complexity and usability. While CCTV is a low cost, low complexity monitoring device, biometrics entail comparatively much higher investments as it a very sophisticated technology focused on restricting access. Whereas, RFID is a sophisticated tracking technology.

Vaibhav Khera, practice head, technology, Datamonitor India, says: “The value proposition of surveillance devices is more about increased reliability and convenience than cost.”

Global recession and surveillance

Global recession has not spared any industry. “Financial downturn will have a greater impact on mature markets such as Western Europe, the US and Japan, than on emerging market Like India. On the whole, consumer spending will remain low and financial system will continue to feel the pressure, which will hit key vertical such as retail and banking,” Khera explains. 

On the other hand, India will still register strong growth due to increasing security concerns. Financial market turmoil will eventually induce more crime rates. However, it will be unfair to say that video surveillance market in India will have no impact of this economic slowdown. A few sectors such as retail will feel the heat, as they will slow down their expansion plans in the country, which will in turn impact the potential growth in surveillance market. 

Unorganised, nascent Indian market

Surveillance market in India has matured over the years. “There has been an expansion, especially in private sector surveillance. From the early adopters like retail stores and manufacturing facilities, today there is a surging demand for video surveillance equipment across industries,” Khera notes.

However, RFID is yet to find its mark in India. Its usage in India is currently limited to select verticals such as retail, manufacturing and logistics. One of the major reasons why surveillance solutions are steadily gaining acceptance in India is due to the awareness factor. As more and more businesses shift their operations to India or outsource their work from this hub, there is a need to provide world-class features and facilities.

However, the Indian surveillance systems market is highly untapped and primarily unorganised. Only a handful of leading vendors operate in the market. Ninenty percent of the market,  especially the home users segment, is dominated by unorganised vendors, who import low cost products from markets such as China. 

Increased security concerns driving surveillance market

In India, the security concerns are driving the market, while in the developed economies such the UK and the US, technology innovations are the key drivers.

“Expanding businesses and growing foreign participation in projects has brought in greater demands for such systems,” Khera adds.

The recent Mumbai terror attack in the heart of India's financial capital has spurred an increased level of security concern, which in turn is fueling a strong demand for stricter security systems in place. 

“We expect the government and defense forces to further increase investments in surveillance systems. Such measures are also expected from hospitality, retail and  education sectors. The terror attacks have also imbibed a sense of insecurity in the minds of home and corporate users, which will further drive investments in surveillance systems,” Khera opines.

Challenges in surveillance

“The key challenges in the industry are limited customer awareness and lack of expertise among the sales and installation departments.

Greater investments in marketing and advertisement by the vendors can help increase awareness about these products,” Khera notes.       

The road ahead

“Looking at the current growth potential of these products in India, we expect global surveillance solution vendors to enter the Indian market, which might bring in some sophisticated technology products,” Khera avers.

From demand side, India offers huge opportunity for local and foreign vendors. In Asia, China and India are hot markets for video surveillance equipment. From supply side, India has talent pool, which can be trained and well utilised in the industry. One of the challenges in the industry is lack of networking/security expertise. India is well placed to face it.

Western Europe and the US markets are relatively mature while India still possesses great growth potential. The key difference between India and the west is the force behind growth in these markets.

“The ability to monitor a location from anywhere in the world will facilitate greater adoption of IP-based CCTV in the coming years. The increased adoption of Internet in India is expected to facilitate this further,” Khera signs off.

The industry is sure to face a set back due to the current global recession, but then hopes are always high. And once awareness is in place, it will definitely set the adoption ball rolling.