Post Mumbai terror attacks, the inflating demand for surveillance and security services in almost every segment, has fueled the market for closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in India. A study by ReportLinker forecasts that the Indian CCTV market will grow at a CAGR of more than 34 per cent during 2010-2012. The drivers for this growth, apart from terrorist attacks, are tremendous growth activity in the infrastructure sector across many Indian cities and demand for high security surveillance during international events like the Hockey World Cup, Indian Premier League and Commonwealth Games 2010. Also, the latest ruling by RBI had a major role to play in getting CCTVs installed in premises of all banks across the country.
By Himanshu Yadav
Monday, September 05, 2011: Market share and growth rate
The security and surveillance segment was hardly affected during the global recession that hit other sectors of the electronics industry hard. A survey by Electronics Bazaar found out that even in 2009, when the growth in other segments was low, companies in this sector witnessed an average growth of 81 per cent. The survey indicated that in 2010, these companies expect an average organsational growth rate of about 110 per cent.
Ashish Bajaj, technical director, Vizor Electronics Pvt Ltd, which manufactures advanced security and surveillance solutions, shares, “The security segment in India is estimated at $350 million, and the CCTV sector commands about 55 per cent of the entire market. With high success rate of CCTV surveillance equipment worldwide, security conscious organisations (both government and non-government) in India are setting aside budget for installing them.”
Anurag Sehgal, director, AV Systems, a company providing total solutions for CCTV surveillance systems, notes, “More than 1 lakh cameras are sold every month in organised business sector. This excludes the sale in the grey market.”
Segments driving growth
Studies show that presently government and public sector demand remains high for overall security systems, followed by industrial and commercial sector. Major customers of security cameras include government offices, PSUs, banks, hotel industry, schools, malls, jewelery stores, BPO sector, retail sector, etc. However, researches also indicate that in coming years it is expected that the demand from residential sector will surpass other segments.
As government bodies are more determined to safeguard all public places such as markets, airports, railway stations and university campuses, surveillance is on the top of government’s security priorities.
“As people are taking surveillance more seriously, this market is targeting a good growth in 2010. Despite recession throughout the industry, we witnessed an exceptional growth rate in 2009 as we got many big projects,” shares Sehgal.
Manufacturing lags behind
There are not too many manufacturers of CCTV cameras in India and the market is mostly import dependent. However, companies in this sector are expected to increase their manufacturing volumes with increasing demand. The Electronics Bazaar survey indicates that on an average there will be 68 per cent increase in organisational manufacturing volumes in 2010, which was only 11 per cent in 2009. This will be achieved through investments. The study also found that average organisational investments in the security sector will be 31 per cent in 2010.
Sparsh is one of the few Indian manufacturers producing all types of CCTV cameras and switches. It is the first Indian company to manufacture indigenously developed, designed and technologically advanced CCTV cameras with technical support from Sony Electronics Singapore Pvt Ltd. The company’s complete CCTV range is RoHS, CE, FCC and EMC certified. AV Systems is another Indian company manufacturing CCTV cameras with brand name AVAKE. The company uses Sony CCD and DSP in its CE certified products.
Vizor is another leading OEM company with its own assembling and manufacturing unit in Delhi. It imports all the basic components and assemble them in India. It is also manufacturing Sony CCD based cameras.
Latest trends
Remote surveillance, surveillance on mobile and IP cameras are the latest products in the market.
With surveillance on mobile, high resolution 540 TVL cameras and dip switch 420,480 and 540 TVL camera, Sparsh is offering the latest in the market. Apart from this, the company will soon launch its OSD Model in 540 TVL. According to Sanjeev Sehgal, director, Sparsh, “Surveillance on mobile will help users to remain informed about the security of their premises even when they are on the move. Email alerts and buzzer alerts can be generated based on motion detection on the premises, and users can see it live on their mobile.” The company, keeping in mind the preferences of users, has also come up with different colours and better picture quality. It has come up with new dip switch model where users can set or reset four functions, that is, automatic white balance (AWB), automatic gain control (AGC), backlight compensation (BLC) and mechanical IRIS (MIRIS) in order to get the desired picture which suits customers’ application and taste.
Further elaborating on new trends, Bajaj shares, “Network cameras are also expected to gain market from 2012 onwards, but so far analogue cameras have the highest demand in the market.” While commenting on the product offerings, he claims, “Vizor has launched India’s first DVR card with its own OEM chip, which is one of the fastest on the Internet.”
Resolution clarity is also much better compared to other DVR cards available in the market. The DVR card comes with direct link to the Vizor website so that customers can access the location remotely without any hassle. The company has also launched India’s slimmest DVR with D1 live resolution; the size of the DVR is as small as a car audio system.
AV Systems’ Sehgal says, “We have a full range of infrared cameras, low lux cameras and high resolution cameras with vandal proof housings available in various models to cater to customised solutions like number plate verification, process monitoring, endoscopic medical equipment cameras, etc. The company also provides DIY kits for low end and easy to install systems.”
Latest innovations and technologies
The market for CCTV is fast changing with new technologies being introduced almost every month. However, Bajaj feels the technological advancement is more towards software based solutions than hardware based. The latest technology expected to dominate the security camera space would be network or IP camera. According to AV Systems, the latest innovation in high resolution low light cameras is the very high resolution CMOS technology, which is also penetrating the market fast.
Sparsh says that video analytics that integrates various types of security equipment like CCTV, access, intruder, fire, etc, into one single comprehensive unit, is another technological innovation gaining popularity.
Focus on R&D
Companies into the CCTV business are devoting considerable amount on their R&D activities. As Sanjeev Sehgal puts it, “Our main focus area is R&D. It is increasing many folds each year. In order to cater high quality and technologically advanced products to the security markets in India and abroad, having a world class R&D setup is imperative. Due to our constant R&D efforts, we are among the few partners in the world who have been shortlisted to get the latest Sony 960H CCD technology for security cameras.”
Bajaj shares, “At Vizor, we are spending around 20 per cent of our revenue in R&D activities.” As per AV Systems’ Sehgal, the company sends its engineers on special visits and training sessions offered by the world’s best CCD manufacturers to understand various parameters, adjust settings of software and keep them updated on the latest in the security domain.
Indian products vs imported
Going by the innovations, development and focus on offering the latest products to consumers, Indian companies are at par or even surpass some of their foreign counterparts in terms of quality and prices of their products. These are being designed as per the requirement of domestic environment and consumers. As Bajaj explains, “Location plays an important role, for example, camera that we buy in Taiwan do not flicker whereas the same camera we install in India flickers, therefore, many semiconductor companies emphasising on developing more production centres in India and provide technical knowhow to Indian counterpart.”
“Indian manufacturers have a competitive edge over importers because of excellent after sales support and customised solutions they offer to customers,” concludes Anurag Sehgal.
Electronics Bazaar, South Asia’s No.1 Electronics B2B magazine
