Due to the economic recession, Italy, as one of the top three largest security markets in the EU (European Union), is still experiencing difficulty making significant growth.
Due to the economic recession, Italy, as one of the top three largest security markets in the EU (European Union), is still experiencing difficulty making significant growth. Similar to other markets in the world, its mid- to low-end market has been affected heavily by cheap products from China. On the contrary, its solution market is just starting to grow. Value-added distributors play a major role in introducing new technologies and solutions to end users for higher security and convenience. At this year’s SICUREZZA,
a&s sat down with several major manufacturers and distributors for more input.
Being the third largest economy in the EU (European Union), Italy is still weathering the economic downturn, which is its longest recession since World War II. The country’s government spending has been heavily cut over the past two years. In the second quarter of 2015, government spending decreased to US$83 billion — the highest being in the third quarter of 2009, reaching $87 billion, according to Trading Economics. Growth of the Italian security market, nevertheless, is staggering. “We can only expect a very slight growth this year in the Italian market. We have more demand coming from mid- to low-end market sectors, which is because now Italian government projects are still delayed,” said Aldo Punzo, Product Marketing Manager of Bettini Video & Security Technology.
In terms of the security market size, the Italian security market was estimated to be worth about $44 million in 2015, compared to the largest market, Germany at $270 million and second largest the U.K., according to IHS.
By 2019, the Italian market is expected to increase by $4 million while Germany will increase the most by $77 million. IHS further expects the European market will fully recover from the economic downturn in the next five to six years.
Despite the economic downturn, the Italian security market has evolved a lot over the past five years, mainly a result of the “invasion” of Chinese brands and the “participation” of some active IT-based distributors, who have been known as strong companies in networking, telephone technology, and broadcasting. The former caused the overall video surveillance equipment price to go down, further heating up the price competition in the region. The latter then provides the market with IP solutions, different from what traditional security companies can offer. The solution market demand in Italy, then, is stimulated by these new offerings and the extra benefits these solutions can bring.
Unique features of the Italian market
The Italian security market is unique because of its historical background and particular features of the industry. With the most developed intrusion alarm industry, Italy probably has the largest number of local and international intrusion alarm manufacturers. In video surveillance, the market mostly relies on major international brands or importing Asian products. The access control market is full of local suppliers, which has made it difficult for major international suppliers to penetrate. “It is very difficult for international companies to do access control business in Italy. Domestically, there are many strong Italian manufacturers. For medium-to-large installation projects, they have to comply with many local regulations, especially if integrated with payroll systems, which cause major difficulties for them,” said Andrea Hruby, CEO of HESA.
Daniele Bertolotti, Business Unit Manager of ABLOY Italy at
Assa Abloy, said, “It is not easy to give access control education in Italy. In other countries, like France, Germany, and the U.K., they have a lot of access control systems in different applications; however, in Italy, it is very difficult to see many electronic access control systems, especially in the residential market. That is because in Italy, we are looking for more resistance of the door. So, we need a mechanical, or electromechanical strong door because we meet different problems here in Italy.”
The intrusion detection market, instead, is quite different from access control because there are less regulations. That is why there is a large number of intrusion alarm companies in Italy, according to Hruby.
Italy is the second largest country market for
Pyronix, a UK-based professional intrusion alarm company, according to Laurence Kenny, Marketing Manager of Italy at Pyronix. The company enjoys remarkable growth both in the U.K. and Italy. The Italian market demand for intrusion detection devices is always quite high; their recent technological advancements in wireless technologies for external detectors have also received very good response from local customers. The company also launched its cloud solution for the home security sector, which integrates not only security but also home automation systems.
Jablotron, headquartered in the Czech Republic, is another strong intrusion alarm company in Italy. Its manager also shared with us that the recent refugee migration problem may help increase the market demand for alarm system in Europe. But, for the company, the alarm market growth is mainly due to new technologies. Intrusion devices have become smarter and can easily be controlled via smartphones, which makes the information more accessible to end users. Home automation is also another market driver to include alarm systems in a home control system. Combined with visual verification, false alarms have been largely reduced. End users can see the video from their smartphones whenever there is an alarm.