IMS Research: Asian video surveillance market distributed by small vendors

The supply of CCTV and video surveillance equipment in Asia by distributors is fragmented. According to a new report from IHS, large multinationals like ADI Distribution, Anixter, and Ingram Micro do operate in some Asian countries. However, the Asian market is served by a multitude of small, privately-owned distributors.

There are few distributors that have a large share of the local market. The report, “The Asian Distribution Market for Video Surveillance Equipment” estimates that the top 10 distributors accounted for over a tenth of the market in 2012.

There are some exceptions. For example, Aditya Infotech has a high share of the Indian distribution market and Pacific Communications has a high share of the Australian distribution market. However, the Asian market as a whole is mainly served by smaller players.

China is the largest distribution market for video surveillance equipment in Asia. However, Chinese vendors often have a large sales team of their own and they operate numerous branch offices. Their own sales teams tend to sell direct to systems integrators and installers for big projects. They also manage the relationship with small distributors. WinHi and Digital China were two of the largest distributors of video surveillance equipment in China in 2012.

Distributors are not used to supply video surveillance equipment. Over half of the Asian market is served by vendors selling direct to systems integrators and installers or selling direct to end-users. Despite this, the percentage of the market served by distributors is changing slowly, while their market is growing quickly. The Asian distribution market for video surveillance equipment is forecast to grow at annual rate of almost 15% over the next 5 years.