The video surveillance market in Saudi Arabia is set to grow by around 25 percent a year to 2016, as against the UAE market which is forecast to grow by around 15 percent a year, IMS Research said in its Middle East Market for CCTV and Video Surveillance Equipment 2012 Edition report. It forecast that the market in Saudi Arabia will grow strongly to overtake that of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to become second largest in the region, after Turkey. Market analyst and author of the report Oliver Philippou, said Saudi Arabia is set to dominate the market on its "surplus funding for social spending, including infrastructure, and health care projects," adding that "UAE is a few years ahead of Saudi Arabia in terms of its transition from analogue to network video surveillance equipment" aside from the fact that "UAE is still feeling the effects of the financial crisis and a slowdown in construction projects." Globally, in spite of weak and uncertain economic conditions, the world market for video surveillance equipment will grow by more than 12 percent in 2012, the report said. The growth will be driven by strong demand in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries, it added. Infrastructure development in advance of major sporting events in Brazil and a heavy focus on city surveillance in China, India and Russia will be key drivers for growth in these countries. Currently the BRIC market is estimated to represent approximately 30 percent of global video surveillance spend. This is projected to increase to more than 40 percent of global spend in 2016. Rapidly increasing demand for network video surveillance equipment in the BRIC countries is forecast to lead to network video sales overtaking analogue CCTV sales. IMS Research forecast that the world market for video surveillance equipment will tip in favor of network video in 2013. "Western Europe is projected to be the largest drag factor impacting global market growth in 2012," said senior analyst Gary Wong. "The eurozone debt crisis is expected to depress growth in western Europe as austerity measures continue to be implemented and a lack of end-user confidence limits video surveillance equipment spend. Spain, Italy and Greece are forecast to be the three slowest growing European markets for video surveillance equipment in 2012." Axis Communications, the world leader in network video surveillance, has overtaken the number one global manufacturer position for all surveillance cameras – including IP-based and analog providers - the IMS Research report added. "The video surveillance industry - despite the impression often painted on TV and in the movies - is one of the last holdouts to fully embrace the digital age," said Fredrik Nilsson, general manager, North America, Axis Communications. "But the fact that an all-IP provider is now the number one manufacturer of all surveillance cameras worldwide is a sure fire sign that the analog to digital shift in video surveillance is upon us. The numbers for the North American market are even more promising."
