New study of analytics market released [21 Dec 2009] [VB/Research Ltd, info@vbresearch.com] VB/Research, which generates sector-focused proprietary deal intelligence, data, news and research, has released a new study of the video analytics market, positing that analytics will generate revenues of more than $1 billion by 2011 Click image for the VB/Research website Further, the study estimates the 2009 market at $556 million in 2009. However, that includes revenues generated by hardware, such as cameras and DVRs, that comes embedded with video analytic software and algorithms. As much as 68 percent of that $556 million comes from the hardware sales, VB/Research estimates, with the resultant software only generating about $180 million in 2009. Thomas Sturge, security and defense analyst for VB/Research, said he has found that those companies that only deliver the analytic technology are declining in market share, while those that offer a hardware-based solution are growing. Further, he believes that much of the growth in the market over the next two years will come from those selling the technology into non-security applications, such as people-counting in retail or notices of overcrowding in airports, for example. Sturge said: "Companies like ObjectVideo, ioimage, they certainly thought that retail would be a big adopter. Maybe the biggest reason for that is the systems don’t have to be that accurate. A lot of companies said that if you really want VA for security, you need it to be between 95 and 99 percent accurate, but if you’re just talking about counting or the line to check in, it just needs to be 60 to 70 percent accurate to make some pretty good assumptions based on that. There’s still a ways to go for security applications, and we think that the big jump in revenues will come from non-security applications" But what of the argument that retail traditionally has little money to spend on high technology, with thin margins, especially in the current economic environment? Sturge said: "Some people say the fact that retail is squeezed will help the market. Some people envisage that it can be used to increase sales, by detecting where people are in the shop and place more expensive goods in that area, for example. They cited a competitive environment as a driver of why they may want to buy such systems" ObjectVideo is currently in the process of installing systems in some 200 Limited stores, which may be something of a bellwether for the market. Also, stories of real ROI are becoming more common. In the report, VB/Research discusses the case of Southwest Florida International Airport, which estimates it cut $570,000 per year in salary for 13 guards by installing a $210,000 analytics-based system, delivering a ROI in under five months. Sturge said: "However, within retail there haven’t been that many massive deployments thus far, so real ROI-based case studies are hard to come by. Further, he said, “it’s all quite hard to work out what is and what is not video analytics" A company like Agilence, for example, refers to itself as performing video auditing, and does not want to be associated with video analytics, though it uses some algorithms in its shrink-reduction solutions that have proven effective in the grocery-chain market, for example. Sturge said: "Some people say license plate recognition is video analytics, some people say it’s not. Some people say people-counting is, some people say it’s not. And because there’s been so much disappointment with video analytics, that’s why some companies don’t want to be associated with it" For more information visit www.vbresearch.com