Features Research
IMS study: Expect more competition in home security market

IMS, now part of IHS, notes in a company release that there are a growing number of U.S. companies entering the home security market, including AT&T, Time Warner, Comcast, Cox Communications, Verizon and big box retailer Lowe’s. Telco giants in particular are able to leverage their existing customer pools, adding security as an incremental service, providing an additional source of revenue. Some new entrants are partnering with existing security providers while others are handling security though their own monitoring stations. Partnerships are also being created with manufacturers like Technicolor and SMC. “It is too soon to tell” what all this means for the established players, according to IMS, but the research firm anticipates that “the market will only become more competitive with acquisitions and mergers likely in the not-too-distant future.”

“The penetration rate of intrusion systems in the U.S. has hovered around the 20 per cent mark for some time,” says Adi Pavlovic, security and fire analyst for IHS, in a statement. “The emergence of new market entrants, such as telecommunications companies, is expected to increase end-user awareness of home management systems, which combine traditional home security products with innovative home automation technology.”