Innovation and low prices offered by CCTV means intruder alarm market is comparatively stagnant, IFSEC hears on day one of the 2023 show.
Greater integration with video surveillance systems will power further growth in the intruder alarm market, attendees at IFSEC’s 50th edition have been told.
Omdia’s Oliver Philippou presenting on the IFSEC Tech Talks Theatre at London’s ExCeL
Oliver Philippou, Research Manager for Physical Security at market research firm Omdia, told delegates that the traditional market was, in sharp contrast to its video surveillance counterpart, stagnating due to a lack of innovation and adverse economic conditions.
The fortunes of the construction market – and therefore the wider economy – correlate very closely with that of the alarm market. “Historically these industries have been closely aligned because the replacement rate for intruder alarms is low,” noted Philippou, who was speaking in the Security Tech Talks Theatre at ExCeL London on day one of IFSEC. “Therefore construction is a good indicator of how the alarm market will do.”
And the indicators aren’t particularly auspicious, with the intruder alarm market’s wallet share eroding amid component shortages and booming demand for high resolution, feature- and sensor-rich cameras that, thanks to fierce vendor competition from Asia and Latin America, can be sold for less than $100.
Video analytics, Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions and full-scale video monitoring – with the evolution of “PIR cameras as proof of this trajectory” – are making video surveillance solutions more appealing to installers, added Philippou.
The upshot is that the global video surveillance market is growing twice as fast as the intruder alarm market.
But the end is not nigh for intruder alarms.
“We do expect them to continue to be sold and the market to grow”, Philippou insisted, but integrations with video surveillance systems – something also applicable to access control – is the way forward.
And the intruder alarm market’s very predictability – its “product mix is unlikely to significantly change over the next five years” – has its advantages. Philippou noted Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ belief that business models that are less prone to disruptive change are a less risky investment bet.
The Chinese market is particularly cool on intruder alarms, which explains why the market in Asia and Oceania region is only worth $0.7 billion, accounting for a 16% global share.
Driven by an enormous US residential segment, the Americas lead the way with $2.4 billion global revenues, a 51% share and the fastest projected CAGR growth rate of 7.2%.
Growth in EMEA, a $1.5bn market with 33% global share, is constrained by its comparative maturity and more stringent regulatory environment, said Philippou.
Europe, meanwhile, will see negligible growth in coming years due to “supply chain constraints, delayed projects, economic difficulties and stringent regulation.”
Be sure to join the discussion at IFSEC 2023 – doors open at 10AM on Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 May this week!
