Gulf IP surveillance market to hit $100m

The IP (internet protocol) video surveillance system market in the Gulf is expected to touch $100 million (Dh367m) by the end of 2010, eating up more than 50 per cent of the analog camera segment.

IP surveillance is a digitised and networked version of closed-circuit television (CCTV). In an IP surveillance system, an IP camera records video footage and the resulting content is distributed over an IP network. Analog systems are tube cameras connected to a VCR.

Simon Nash, Senior European Marketing Manager at Sony Professional Solutions, told Emirates Business at the security trade fair and conference Intersec: "The IP video surveillance market will cross $100m, while the analog market touched $118m at the end of 2009. The growth in the analog market will be stagnant as penetration of IP-based cameras has increased in the Middle East region."

In 2009, Sony sales grew by 160 per cent as against 125 per cent growth recorded in 2008. "In this growth 60 per cent has come from the Middle East and the rest of the region was slower. Analog cameras contributed 65 per cent to our sales, while the rest was from the IP camera market. This will, however, change as IP is the way forward. There were issues faced in Western Europe due to the global recession. However, in the GCC there is a general improvement in sales compared to other regions."

Several manufacturers of IP video surveillance products saw high penetration rates for their products in the Gulf. "Since the Gulf IP video security camera market was already $70-80m by the end of 2009, it should cross the $100m-mark this year," said Baraa Al Akkad, Regional Manager, Axis Communications Middle East. The company has presence in 19 countries in the Middle East, with 50 per cent of its sales coming from the Gulf. The company's projects stalled early last year were restarted by the end of 2009, he said.

Panasonic, another strong player in the video camera market segment, also registered high growth in the IP camera space in 2009.

"The year 2009 saw the growth of IP camera sales by more than 50 per cent for Panasonic. Analog will continue to be taken into environments where they were used previously," said Ayman Elkhidir, Senior Planning Executive at Panasonic Marketing Middle East.

Saudi Arabia was the growth area for Panasonic in terms of installations in the Gulf in 2009. "All the new projects are IP-based, which is why our technical team is based in Saudi Arabia. The size and relevance of these projects are also huge," added Elkhidir.

The UAE, Qatar and Kuwait take the lead after Saudi Arabia in terms of installations of IP-based video security cameras. "The UAE definitely has contributed to the large amount of IP sales. For Samsung, 2009 was important in terms of IP sales as many customers moved to the Korean brand after traditionally working with a US or UK-based manufacturer. Analog cameras will be a focus area for Samsung in spite of the rapid growth of IP," said Senna Kesavan, Branch Manager at Business Automation and Security Systems, distributor for Samsung security products in the Gulf.

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