The report, “The EMEA Distribution Market for Video Surveillance Equipment” and “The Americas Distribution Market for Video Surveillance Equipment” forecast that the both the European and North and South American markets will grow at an average annual rate of more than 10 per cent to 2016.
According to report author and IMS Research Analyst Jon Cropley, “It is generally recognised that distributors are responsible for transporting video surveillance equipment from manufacturers to installers and systems integrators. They are less well known for other functions that they sometimes perform like advertising and promoting offers and product announcements, on-going technical support, and operating physical locations where products can be viewed and purchased.”
Distributors reflect the level of their involvement in the price they charge. This price is typically a fixed percentage of the equipment selling price and is known as the distributor margin. IT distributors are generally used to operating at lower margins than security distributors though they do this on the basis of little or no ongoing technical support – something CCTV distributors must provide.
IT distributors have already gained a firm foothold in the video surveillance supply chain and this is pressuring the distribution margin. It is estimated that they accounted for almost 15 per cent of the distribution market in EMEA in 2011 and an even higher percentage in the Americas. In Australia, while we have no formal figures, there’s no question the pressures are identical.
Meanwhile, IT value-added resellers and broadline electrical distributors are also getting in on the action. This, combined with the fact that some larger systems integrators try to perform the role of distributor themselves, means that competition for distribution of video surveillance equipment is increasingly fierce.
