Current state of the network access control system market in St. Petersburg.
In the spring of 2010, specialists from the Club of Business and Politics Consultants conducted a telephone survey of organizations engaged in the sale and installation of security systems in St. Petersburg.
Of the 528 registered enterprises, 244 (46%) took part in the survey, which allows us to consider the survey sample representative. The questions were answered by specialists with experience in the field of security systems – engineers and enterprise managers. The survey was conducted within the framework of the established tradition of this type of research. The materials of previous studies can be found in issue 5 of the journal “All about your security” for 2006 or on the website: http://totalsec.ru/journal/journal.php?page=article&number=2006_5&id=16.
Based on the previously obtained results, the following tasks were solved in the study: — to determine how the crisis manifested itself in the industry;
— to characterize the current state of the network ACS market in St. Petersburg and the changes that have occurred since 2006.
The situation in the industry in the context of the global crisis
According to Lenta.ru (http://lenta.ru/news/2009/03/16/production/), the main reason for the decline in industrial production in Russia and other countries in 2008–2009 was the global financial and economic crisis, which almost completely paralyzed the credit market and caused a sharp decline in demand on the world market. Under these conditions, manufacturers were forced to resort to reducing production volumes, cutting salaries and laying off workers. For example, “industrial production in the United States fell by 1.4% in February 2009,” Bloomberg reports, citing data from the US Federal Reserve System (FRS). “Over the past 12 months [February 2008–2009], industrial production in the United States fell by 11.2%, which was the sharpest decline in the indicator since 1975.” Also, “according to the results of January 2009, industrial production in Russia decreased by 16% compared to January 2008. The decrease in the indicator was a record since 1994, when the decline in production was 18%.”
As for the market we are studying, for 63% of companies the number of installations did not decrease or decreased slightly, for 4% of companies the number of installations decreased sharply (>80%) and 33% significantly (twice). Approximately the same ratio with revenue: 65% of companies saw their revenue decrease slightly (80%).
The trends of 2010 are also rather pessimistic: 49% of companies responded that demand in 2010 did not change compared to 2009, 30% — that demand even decreased, and only 21% — that it increased.
Thus, it can be stated that 2009 was a crisis for the industry and negative trends continued in the first third of 2010, during the period of the study.
At the same time, the crisis showed the conservatism of the network ACS market: over the past year, only 6% of companies changed their supplier and only 13% switched to cheaper equipment.
The conservatism of the market, in our opinion, is largely due to the fact that ACS are a technically complex product that requires specialists in this field to have fairly high engineering qualifications and practical work skills.
Analysis of the market of companies engaged in the sale and installation of network ACS in St. Petersburg
68% (167 out of 244) of companies are engaged in the installation and sale of network ACS, the remaining 32% (77 out of 244) are not engaged in the installation of ACS. (For comparison: in 2006, 77% (176 out of 229) of companies were engaged in the installation of network ACS, plus 15 organizations out of 229 were engaged in sales).
In addition, in 2010, as in 2006, only 6% of the surveyed companies stated that they plan to deal with ACS in the future.
These data allow us to say that the network ACS market has formed, is quite stable, and there are only minor fluctuations in the number of companies due to mergers, liquidation of old ones and creation of new ones.
Awareness of ACS trademarks
Awareness of the 2006 leaders' trademarks is consistently high in 2010: Parsec (93%), Orion (91%), Gate (86%), Perco (84%), Kronverk (80%), Quest (67%).
Conclusion: the leading brands are well-known and do not require further promotion; marketing communications should be of a reminder nature. Outsiders, as in the previous study, can be recommended to more actively use the entire range of marketing communications to increase brand awareness: participation in security exhibitions, advertising in specialized publications, direct marketing, etc.
Distribution of companies by the brand of ACS they install
There is also a group of leaders in this issue: Orion, Parsec, Perco and Gate. The shares of different brands of ACS do not add up to 100%, since organizations work with more than one brand of ACS.
The “other” category includes Russian brands and imported trademarks, whose shares amounted to less than 4%.
Thus, it can be said that the ACS market of St. Petersburg has already formed and changes occur mainly due to the redistribution of market shares between leading brands.
Since, as already mentioned above, the fame of leading brands does not require further promotion, marketers should pay more attention to building a competent customer-oriented approach.
Which brands of ACS do installation organizations in St. Petersburg prefer to install
In response to the question: «What equipment would you prefer to install if the customer completely relies on your choice?» — the majority of respondents named Orion, Gate, Perco and Parsec.
In other words, according to experts in the field of access control and management systems in St. Petersburg, Parsec is the most preferred brand for installation.
General conclusion
The study showed that 2009 was a crisis year for the network ACS market in St. Petersburg, pessimistic trends and expectations continued in 2010. At the same time, the crisis revealed the conservatism of the market: even a drop in revenue and the number of installations did not lead to a change in equipment or supplier. Leaders in recognition and the number of installations retain their positions, with only minor fluctuations in shares.