The a&s editorial team recently spoke with several Indian channel players to get the latest market dynamics. Key findings include sizzling demand, “new” brands and deeper localization.
The a&s editorial team recently spoke with several Indian channel players to get the latest market dynamics. Key findings include sizzling demand, “new” brands and deeper localization.
Open Access
The depreciating Indian rupee (to US greenback) has resulted in higher costs and tougher profit-and-loss management for local solution providers to run their businesses, but thanks to ongoing and new projects and more cost-effective solutions and options, the market is continuing its growth momentum with strong demand for robust surveillance and security systems. Promising vertical segments include city surveillance, transportation/traffic infrastructure, energy/utilities, industrial, retail and SMBs, with average homeowners increasingly heeding their own properties.
While surveillance and monitoring have been the main driving force, the need of security has evolved to require better, easier, cheaper, mobile management which has in turn fueled the growth in time/attendance and access/identity management solutions, such as more advanced but affordable fingerprint scanners. For the residential sector, video door phones and video-enabled alarm systems are in great demand, with mobile and smartphone/tablet accessibility becoming a necessity.
Up-and-Coming Brands
The growth potential has attracted new players: IT systems integrators and software developers; the commonality among them and “traditional” security channel players is having sales/service centers nationwide. And this increased pressure on the existing players has pushed some to develop and promote their own-branded products and solutions, to better maintain or enhance profitability. Another noteworthy phenomenon is that Indian solution providers are expanding into neighboring countries Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, for their similarities in language, mentality and product/service requirements.
Go Deeper
For government projects, New Delhi is still inevitably the center of attention for global conglomerates, particularly for LG, Panasonic and Sony. Axis, Bosch, Honeywell, Tyco and UTC, on the other hand, are grooming the IT/telecom vertical with their main offices and key personnel in Bengaluru (better known as Bangalore), while Hikvision and Kaba concentrate on Mumbai and its surrounding region for the vibrant financial and commercial sectors.
Localization is now a whole new ball game. Take Tyco for example; it now has approximately 30 offices in Tier-2 and 3 cities throughout the country, to better promote, install and service made-in-India products/solutions. Hikvision's local joint venture and distributor is in similar markets, with increasingly fortified government ties.