Looking at the growth of the sector in 2012-13, CCTV industry pundits are of the opinion that there will be a significant growth in FY 2013-14, as the continual pace of urbanisation across India would add to increased demand for security equipment. Demand for new technology will also contribute to the growth
By Richa Chakravarty
Saturday, July 20, 2011: Despite an overall sluggish economic scenario, the video surveillance industry in India enjoyed a healthy double-digit growth figure last year. During a survey conducted by Electronics Bazaar, industry experts revealed that the CCTV camera sector in India witnessed a growth of 20-26 per cent in the FY 2012-13. A recent report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) also claimed that the video surveillance and CCTV market in India is growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 30 per cent and is likely to cross Rs 22 billion by 2015.
Looking at the climbing graph, industry pundits are of the opinion that FY 2013-14 will be a good year for the CCTV players in India. The high rate of migration into all the major cities has increased the demand for security equipment. While last year saw only a slight pick-up in demand for IP cameras along with IR dome and IR bullet cameras, this year, the industry is hopeful that IP cameras will penetrate the Indian market more thoroughly.
Trends predicted for 2013-14
The security industry is one of the most fragmented segments, with 50 per cent of the market occupied by unorganised local players and the rest occupied by the big brands.
Big brands will dominate the security market: Till now, the unorganised sector has flourished the most in the security domain, but gradually, consumer preferences are shifting towards reputed brands. This is because the consumers today understand the technology and their requirements well. Despite India being a price-sensitive market, the consumers today are conscious about the quality of the product they are buying.
“Edge-based analytics, higher compression, high-definition clarity and higher bandwidth are the few technological advances happening in the CCTV domain. Not many players in the market can offer the advanced technology that the consumers are looking for today. Hence, growth among the major players will be more in comparison with non-branded products,” shares Hemendu Sinha, business head, B2B sales, LG India.
Adds Sanjeev Sehgal, managing director, Samriddhi Automation Pvt Ltd (Sparsh), “With technological advancements happening in the surveillance industry, high-resolution cameras, the emergence of IP cameras, high-resolution DVRs, day and night CCTV cameras, and specialised products like mobile DVRs for transport applications are more in demand.” Keeping the current buoyant market in mind, Sparsh is aiming to grow by about 60 per cent in 2013-14.
IP cameras will overtake analogue cameras: Today, customers demand products that are hassle free, easy to install and come with remote accessibility. Since the major focus is on clarity, there is a demand for higher-resolution cameras that capture more details of any activity. “Users are demanding IP cameras more for the sheer benefits that
the technology offers. IP cameras are slowly eating into the share of analogue cameras. The total sales of IP cameras at present amount to around 30-32 per cent of the CCTV camera market in India, with the rest being taken by analogue cameras,” informs Sudhindra Holla, country manager, Axis Communications, India. But, slowly, the share of IP cameras is increasing. Here again, the shift towards IP cameras gives the big brands an edge over the other local players.
According to Hemendu Sinha, “The growth of IP cameras has been slow primarily because the bandwidth of the network till now was not sufficient to support the IP solution, due to issues like less storage capacities, etc. But today, we have enough bandwidth. IP is really evolving and we have various options available with 3G, wireless technology, etc. In parallel to technological advances, Indian manufacturers are now improving on the bandwidth side and also increasing the compression.”
City surveillance growing fast: After the Mumbai terrorist attacks, city surveillance has become a high priority in India and a number of city surveillance projects are currently going on in cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Surat and
Ahmedabad. Shares Pramoud Rao, managing director, Zicom Electronic Security Systems Ltd, “The real growth in the CCTV camera market in India began in 2009, post the attack on the Taj in Mumbai. It was then that the government realised the importance of city surveillance. The Pune blast in 2012 further triggered growth for CCTV cameras and today, the government has made installation of CCTV camera mandatory in commercial establishments, hotels, hospitals, etc. These projects have given a good opportunity to the CCTV camera players, as Mumbai alone will install more than 5000 cameras.”
Solution-centric approach: Today, all major players are moving away from selling individual products to providing complete solutions. Electronics Security as a Service (e-SaaS) is the new service launched by Zicom, with which it offers five services to its clients. In this case, the consumers do not have to own the device nor to worry about the hassle of maintaining it. They just need to pay a monthly charge for Zicom to remotely monitor its security and surveillance devices.
Similarly, Honeywell’s Pro-Watch system offers an integrated security management platform which allows large companies to easily manage complex systems that tie together access control, IP video surveillance, intrusion detection and building management technology for tighter security and increased productivity. Pro-Watch 4.0 includes new features such as support for wireless readers, new compliance reporting functions, Web-based alarms and event management capabilities.
Even LG offers customisation to its consumers. It has recently increased its pre-sales team so that it can cater to the requirements of its customers. Informs Rahul Gupta, managing director, Smile Security and Surveillance, “Nowadays, one can view the images or do surveillance, remotely. Since all these videos travel over the Internet, they need to be secured. We have developed a surveillance video transit technology that will secure the video being transmitted for remote viewing.” The company also offers a solution-centric system.
Segments driving growth
The CCTV camera industry is going to emerge as a huge market in the next few years in the wake of growing demand from the following sectors:
- Government
- Hospitality industry
- Services
- Banking
- Healthcare
- Retail and transportation
- Commercial
- Small and medium enterprises
Cities generating demand
Tier I cities
- Bhopal
- Chandigarh
- Guwahati
- Gwalior
- Jaipur
- Kanpur
- Kolkata
- Mumbai
- Pune
Tier II cities
- Bhubneshwar
- Goa
- Nagpur
- Nashik
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