Report: Demand for surveillance equipment remains strong in China

According to a new report from IMS Research, demand for video surveillance equipment in China continues to grow at a strong pace. In fact, IMS estimates that the market was worth $2.6 billion in 2011, an increase of more than 30 percent over the previous year.

The research firm said that a key driver of this growth can be attributed to the network camera market, which picked up the slack for sagging analog sales that suffered due to a slowdown in spending on city and transit surveillance projects in the nation during 2011.

"Due to the increasing demand for high resolution images, network security products, especially network cameras, gained market share in 2011," said report author and IMS research analyst Cheryl Li in a statement. "In fact, network camera revenue increased 130 percent in 2011. In addition, the growth also benefited from the increasing number of participants in the market. It should be noted that competition also reduced pricing, which is an important element in the market."

Li said there is also a trend toward high-definition surveillance products in the Chinese market, but due to high costs and the lack of a complete HD solution on the market, there were only limited shipments of them in 2012.

Despite a lower projected GDP in 2012, IMS said that the Chinese government is continuing to invest in the western part of the county, which may create additional opportunities in other markets. As a result, the research firm is forecasting that the market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 percent over the next five years.

For more information about the report, visit www.imsresearch.com.