Commercial Video Analytics Market Sizing and Expectations

This Research Highlight offers a detailed description of prevailing trends in the commercial video surveillance market—and how vendors can respond.

Market Overview

• The video surveillance market size is maturing, and ABI Research expects the growth of total camera connections to slow in the coming years as the market shifts from expanding camera coverage to investments that make better use of video surveillance footage to not only improve security, but also to improve operations.
• The 8-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for surveillance cameras between 2022 and 2030 is expected to be 6%, with the installed base size increasing from 765 million to 1.2 billion.
• The majority (89%) of surveillance cameras are connected through fixed-line connections. This trend will continue in the future, with fixed-line connections eclipsing every other connectivity technology in most regions of the world.
• By 2030, Wi-Fi will be the second most popular connectivity technology for surveillance cameras, though Wi-Fi will still be far less popular than fixed-line connections.
• Cellular connected cameras are also outnumbered by fixed-line cameras in every year that was measured, though cellular cameras are finding niche use cases in law enforcement and recreation. The main draws of cellular cameras are their portability and wide network coverage—many cellular products are designed to capture video in remote locations and then send footage back to either a main headquarters or personal device.
• The vast majority of surveillance cameras in the world are located in China, making Asia-Pacific the region with the most camera connections. The Chinese state has a well-known surveillance apparatus, making it the world leader in camera connections by a significant margin. China is also home to the two largest surveillance camera manufacturers in the world, Hikvision and Dahua, which together make up 70% of the video surveillance market as measured in camera revenue.
• The second and third regions with the highest number of video surveillance cameras are North America (148 million installed base in 2030) and Europe (128 million installed base), respectively.
• As in most regions of the world, the cameras in China, North America, and Europe are predominantly fixed-line. However, ABI Research expects that demand for Wi-Fi cameras, though still dwarfed by fixed-line numbers, will be greater in some parts of Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa because these areas have a larger number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that would be more inclined to use residential Wi-Fi cameras for their businesses.

“The video surveillance market is a complex industry that has endured many changes in the past 2 decades, and the market continues to evolve as video surveillance applications expand. Video surveillance vendors are no longer only serving the “traditional” video surveillance customer, but vendors are evolving their offerings and business models to cater to the needs of new verticals and new lines of business.” – Lizzie Stokes, Industry Analyst at ABI Research

Key Decision Items

Target Specific Video Analytics Use Cases

Customers will continue to search for customized video analytics solutions specific to their vertical. Currently, it is difficult to develop intelligent edge analytics on the different cameras used by customers. In addition, retraining camera platforms for each use case is a costly effort that can prevent customers from taking full advantage of edge intelligence.

Video surveillance vendors could succeed if they target specific video analytics use cases and offer standardized solutions to customers. The market should continue to look for ways to automate the process of developing specific analytics for edge devices, especially as business use cases for video analytics grow.

Decipher Which Edge Intelligence Use Cases Are the Future

Intelligent video surveillance vendors and customers should also consider which use cases in the future will call for edge intelligence and which use cases will call for high computing infrastructure. Knowing what customers require and which architecture could save customers money will give vendors an advantage as video surveillance users ponder the “cloud versus edge” debate.

Use cases that require rapid, real-time responses will benefit the most from smart cameras. For example, a manufacturer might choose to depend on Artificial Intelligence (AI) cameras to rapidly spot a defective product on the factory floor before it makes its way down the factory line. This sort of rapid, real-time tracking and alerting is a use case best suited for edge intelligence, whereas other use cases that do not require immediate alerts might offload analysis to cloud or server systems.

Make Cloud Analytics Platform Integration a Must

Customers might also choose to analyze their video with a cloud analytics platform if they would like to gain insights that would require higher computing power. Though smart cameras today feature more complex algorithms and training models, some video analytics applications like advanced behavior detection are not yet available on most devices. Finding the best, mixed architecture for a customer can lower bandwidth and compute costs, and help a customer achieve the right analysis at the right time.

Most experts within the commercial video analytics market that ABI Research spoke with anticipate that customers will use a mix of AI cameras and cloud computing for analytics in the future, though some experts actively take sides in the “edge versus cloud” debate and are confident that their side will win in the future. ABI Research recommends that video surveillance vendors prepare for the future by discerning which customers will prioritize speed and which will prioritize deep intelligence and accuracy.

Consider Restraining from People Tracking Applications

Video surveillance companies could also invest in behavior detection solutions that have the specific purpose of protecting employee or end-user health and safety. Behavior detection use cases like fall detection for lone workers is less likely to be controversial than other video analytics solutions used by governments and companies to track all kinds of citizens, regardless of special circumstance. Video surveillance companies could also follow IBM’s lead and choose to leave or avoid the business of “people tracking” entirely, and instead divert their analytics capabilities to product inspection, or inventory and supply chain tracking. By investing in industrial use cases, companies could still participate in the video analytics market, while also avoiding public controversy and the potential need to backpedal after future regulation or scandal.

Key Market Players to Watch

• Ambarella
• Axis Communications
• BOSCH
• Genetec
• Hikvision
• Honeywell
• Milestone Systems
• Motorola
• Teledyne Technologies
• VIVOTEK

Dig Deeper for the Full Picture

Take a deep dive into the future of the Internet of Things (IoT) and video integration with the insightful ABI Research report Video in IoT: Trends, Use Cases, and Connectivity Technology. The report delves into the emerging connections, use cases, and industry trends driving innovation in this space and helps stakeholders stay informed to gain a strategic advantage in the evolving world of video in IoT.

Not ready for the report yet? Check out our other Research Highlights you might find useful:

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This content is part of the company’s IoT Networks & Services Research Services.