The Asia residential security market has been on an upward trend. Growth can be attributed to various factors including urbanization and increased awareness on security technologies. This article takes a closer look.
The Asia residential security market has been on an upward trend. Growth can be attributed to various factors including urbanization and increased awareness on security technologies. This article takes a close look at the Asia residential security market and discusses the growth drivers, future outlook and challenges in the market.
Growth drivers
The Asia residential security market has been growing in recent years. The growth drivers are manifold. Below we look at some of them.
Urbanization
Asia has seen rapid urbanization and is home to some of the fastest growing cities in the world. According to the
U.N., 54 percent of the global urban population, or more than 2.2 billion people, live in Asia, and by 2050, the urban population in Asia is expected to grow by 50 percent, an additional 1.2 billion people. Amid this trend, more housing units are built in Asia, triggering stronger demand for residential security. “Rapid urban development in countries like India, China, and Southeast Asia has increased demand for secure residential solutions in high-density urban areas,” said Ellil Mathiyan Lakshmanan, Director of Hallmark Security Management.
Increased security concerns
Amid urbanization in Asia, security and safety concerns are also on the increase. The Economist’s 2021
Safe Cities Index, for example, puts a lot of Asian cities on the bottom of the list, including Bangkok (No. 43), Jakarta (No. 46) and Manila (No. 51). This, then, has led residents to look for security solutions to protect people and assets. “A perceived increase in crime in urban settings has led to higher investments in residential security,” Lakshmanan said.
Awareness on smart home technologies
According to Lakshmanan, growing awareness about smart home technologies and their accessibility in Asia has boosted adoption. Indeed, home users can be helped tremendously by smart home solutions such as consumer security cameras and smart locks, the latter of which not only support multi-factor authentication, even including
facial recognition, but also integrate with other smart home devices to provide a better home experience.
Future prospects good
These factors combine to put Asian residential security market on a growth trajectory, which is seen this year and expected to last into 2025.
"The residential security market in Asia, particularly in Singapore, has been experiencing steady growth in 2024 as more private residential estates are looking into upgrading their security systems to keep up with the needs of convenience and security in their estate. We anticipate this trend to continue into 2025,” said Toby Koh, Group MD of Ademco.
"We do see overall market growth [in 2024], particularly in Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. This growth is driven by accelerated economic and urbanization processes, as well as improving infrastructure, which raises people’s awareness of security. Additionally, the development of IoT technology has led to growing familiarity with and demand for smart home solutions,” said Si Peng, Overseas Marketing Manager at Closeli.
Peng adds: “Competition will intensify further in 2025. In the residential security market across Asia, customers will expect higher standards, not just in terms of price but also in product features such as 4G, battery and solar power, high resolution, and smart home integration. As the market evolves, Closeli continues to focus on delivering user-friendly solutions that combine 4G connectivity, solar-powered options, and high-resolution cameras.”
Addressing manpower shortage issue
It’s also worth noting that security technologies can address a key challenge in the Asia residential market – that is, a shortage of manpower or guards. The shortages can be
attributable to various reasons, for example working long shifts, wearing restrictive uniforms, working in harsh working environments and getting a negative perception of the career.
Amid this shortage, property owners and residents turn to security technologies to make up for the insufficiency in manpower.
“Technologies such as video analytics, can analyze video feeds in real-time, detect unusual activities, and alert only when necessary, minimizing the need for constant human monitoring. Central monitoring and command center also offer managed services where remote monitoring and emergency response are handled by command center agents, further reducing the onsite personnel needs,” Koh said.
“Technologies like intelligent patrol systems can help address the manpower shortage. Various hardware devices like sensors and cameras, combined with front- and back-end algorithms, allow for real-time monitoring and alerting, reducing the reliance on human staff for routine surveillance. These solutions can provide proactive alerts, preventing incidents before they happen, rather than just reviewing footage afterward. Additionally, security managers can assign patrol tasks to frontline staffs, with real-time alerts for any irregularities. Managers can also review logs and reports to optimize management operations,” Peng said.