IP Video Surveillance

One of the more baffling and intriguing findings of our 3rd annual report The Physical Security Business in 2011 is that despite a surge in acquisition activity, which has doubled in the last 2 years, most of the traditional market leaders have not participated and watched this going off from the sidelines. It is not […]

In Europe there has been a steadily growing campaign during the last five years to restrict the use of Video Surveillance in public areas. It has been based on the assumption that it infringes on the privacy and liberties of citizens. Since the August Riots in major cities in the UK, “Big Brother Watch” has […]

Despite August being the silly season for business, this month has brought some encouraging developments. This would suggest the second two quarters of this year will experience a welcome acceleration of growth in security revenues in some vertical markets, technologies and geographic areas. The reason for this belief is not based on the many overly […]

Even the pessimists are now convinced that the light at the end of the tunnel is not a train, and there are real signs the recovery in our industry is back on track. The two factors that confirm it for us are the real statistics of financial reports delivered over the last four months together […]

The bumper start in January was always going to be a hard act to follow and M&A; activity in February by comparison shows a dramatic decline. We recorded 4 deals in February compared with 5 transactions in the same month of 2009. However in both the metrics of volume and value, acquisition activity is well […]

This survey is about the state of the physical security industry and its most important challenge today; consolidation. Without a major restructuring, the industry will be unable to properly deliver the benefits of new technology (such as improved performance and increased productivity), to its clients and thereby sustain profitable future growth for all industry stakeholders. […]

On 12th November, UTC announced that it had agreed to purchase GE Fire & Security for $1.82 billion which will be the biggest security and safety deal recorded in the last five years. Many column inches have since been written about why this was such a good deal for UTC but in the short term […]

July and August are traditionally slow months for acquisition activity. We saw the completion of 8 deals, the same number as realised in 2008. However with the exception of Google’s purchase of ON2 Technologies, at just over $100m, none of the other 8 deals cost more than $20m, whilst in 2008 the value of deals […]