A new report by IMS Research has identified huge potential for video surveillance equipment in the Chinese market. The report predicts that by 2012 this market will be worth over $3 billion, growing at a CAGR of 23.8% (2007-2012).

Market Analyst, Bo Zhang, commented “The Chinese video surveillance market experienced a much slower growth rate in 2008 than the previous years. This is due to the influence of the global financial crisis and some big events that happened in China in 2008, such as the Beijing Olympic Games and the earthquake in south-western China. To confront the challenge from financial crisis, the Chinese central government has taken a series of actions to increase domestic demand to stimulate economic growth. The “New Deal” stimulus package, with a value of $586 billion, calls for new housing, roads, railways and airports, plus rebuilding areas devastated by the earthquake. Consequently, 2009 and 2010 are forecast to be very strong years for the Chinese video surveillance market.”

IMS Research forecasts that in 2012, nearly 16 million security cameras will be sold in China, for both new surveillance deployments and replacement purposes. The revenue from security cameras is expected to take around one third of the total equipment market. The Chinese market shows a clear trend from basic box cameras to higher-end models, such as speed domes and box zoom cameras.

DVRs are the next largest part of the video surveillance market in China. The local Chinese DVR manufacturers dominate this market. IMS Research estimates more than 80% of the DVRs sold in China in 2008 were supplied by Chinese brands.

The trend from analogue video surveillance to network video surveillance is not as strong in China as in other parts of the world. Sales of network video surveillance equipment, including network cameras, video servers, NVRs and network video surveillance software, were estimated to account for less than 10% of the total market revenues in 2008. However, the market is forecast to ramp-up over the coming years, with a forecast CAGR of 55.6% (2007-2012).