India Spends More on Security Gadgets

In , people are feeling the need for security unlike any year before.  The fear of theft and terrorism, plus the good old fashion desire to have the latest in technology drives the buying frenzy.  The demand for security gadgets has increased this year over last year by 50% bringing the dollar amount spent to about $245 million.

          Burglar alarm systems, video surveillance and door phones, access control, wall mount air sensors, motion detectors, two-way key fobs, Wi-Fi cameras, wireless external sirens and wristband transmitters are some of the ultra-smart devices that are in demand with increasingly affluent Indians.

          Last month, manufacturers debuted nearly 25 new products at the security fair, IFSEC India-2008.  “Thirty per cent of the stalls at this security fair, which was thronged by real estate developers and individual end users, featured security and home automation devices,” IFSEC India-2008 Project coordinator Anindiya Sarangi told the Press Trust of India.  The latest trend in the residential sector is surely driven by incidents, Sarangi said.  That may be why surveillance equipment is the number one seller in security products, followed by access control and alarm systems.  “The residential architecture was already built in such a way that it had minimum entry and exit points but with heightened security considerations we are now focusing on designs that facilitate installation of security gadgets at these places,” Dubai based Indian architect Santa Datta said.

          Meanwhile, despite India’s expertise in software engineering, the country is essentially an import market when it comes to security devices with almost no local production and small-scale operations.  Therefore the market is flooded by products from Taiwan, China, and countries in South-East Asia.  Some say these products may be more inexpensive, but are inferior to industry standards.