According to a report by Jon Cropley, principal analyst for video surveillance at IHS Markit, the world market for professional video surveillance equipment grew by 3.9 percent in 2016. While this is a higher rate of growth than in 2015 (1.9 percent), it is still low by historical standards, IHS reported.
The Chinese market accounted for more than 40 percent of global revenues, growing by 7.2 percent in 2016. However, exchange rate changes did play a role in suppressing a higher calculated growth in that currency (as the average annual exchange rate of the Chinese Yuan Renminbi to the U.S. dollar fell by 6.6 percent in 2016).
The world market excluding China grew by just 1.6 percent in 2016. Demand for security cameras grew rapidly, but prices fell considerably, affecting revenues. In fact, revenues declined in a number of countries.
Additionally, IHS Markit found that:
- Slightly higher growth in the global market is forecast for 2017, at 5.5 percent. As a result, the world market will be worth $16.2 billion in 2017.
- The supply base for professional video surveillance equipment is gradually becoming more concentrated (although it remains highly fragmented compared with supply to many other markets). The top 15 vendors accounted for 58 percent of revenues in 2016.
- In 2016, a number of Chinese vendors continued to gain market share rapidly in regions outside China. They tend to offer products with low prices, and this has been a major factor in average price erosion in those regions.
- 59 percent of all security cameras shipped in 2016 were network cameras.
- Shipments of HD CCTV cameras more than doubled.
- Less than 1 percent of network cameras shipped were 4K-compliant.
