Access Control Market in China Shows Multiple Trends and Development

The operation mode of China's access control market has become more diversified: In recent years, the growth rate and interest rate of access control systems have been higher than those of surveillance products. However, due to more and more input manufacturers, market competition has become increasingly fierce, and the mode of operation of manufacturers has become more diversified. .

In recent years, as the degree of economic activity in China has been increasing year by year, as one of the corners of safety precautions, the system of access control (entrance and entrance management) has also been extensively used in residential communities and commercial buildings that have mushroomed. And with the continuous advancement of technology, the product's application type also transitions from contact to non-contact, from magnetic stripe cards, IC (smart) cards to biometrics. The network/integration function has become increasingly popular. The “tailored” approach gradually opened. In terms of the access control system products on the market in 2004, the functions on the hardware are similar. The main differences are reflected in the size of the system capacity and the excellent product stability. Inferior, most functions can be implemented in software. In the card part, the use of proximity cards has far exceeded magnetic stripe cards. Non-contact IC cards have the advantage of long life and large storage capacity. However, they are still hampered by price issues. The number of cards used is still lower than that of contactless IC cards. In the reader part, Wiegand, RS-485's output format and EMx/HID/Legic/Mifare module options are universal standards; access controllers with networking and integrated functions are also gaining popularity.

Biometric business opportunities are becoming clear

After more than 20 years of development, biometric identification technologies that are “unique”, not afraid of oblivion or loss have finally become commercialized from the laboratory, from rare to expensive, and gradually spread to the market. In particular, the access control manufacturers introduced the biometric recognition function in 2004. The substantial increase in the number of products, but also to see the opportunities for biometric identification products become more apparent. With the biometrics currently used in biometric products, fingerprint identification is still the most common. Followed by palm-shaped, iris, face and so on. In terms of product technology, many products have built 32-bit control chips, use soft address codes, and can upgrade the system through the Internet. The biometric capture devices and comparison algorithms (validation, identification, misrecognition, and refusal rate) are still part of the vendor's need to improve. In August of this year, Hong Kong Delu Company officially represented the fingerprint pass fingerprint reader of Keico, South Korea. The general manager Wang Hao stated that this series of products has unique features in quality, design, management software and networking functions. Use, can also be networked; can store 640 fingerprints and 32,768 events; can set up card + fingerprint + password up to 11 operating modes; with a durable metal shell material and tamper device. Shanghai Ouyi Mechanical & Electrical Hardware Co., Ltd., which is famous for lock products, also launched the Australian brand Microlatch wireless fingerprint access control monitoring system this year. The general manager Zhang Zongzhi stated that the system is a world-patented BIO-13 wireless wall-mounted biometric fingerprint reader. In addition to the magnetic lock with "warning light" function - MC2600 and Wiegand / smart chip dual-use wireless remote controller. The system unlocks in only 0.05 seconds, and the identification error rate is only 0.01%. The fingerprint reader uses a general battery and can be easily installed.

The operation mode of the Chinese access control market is more diverse:
In recent years, the growth rate and profitability of access control systems have been higher than those of surveillance products. However, due to more and more input manufacturers, market competition has become increasingly fierce, and the operating modes of manufacturers have become more diverse.

First, take the specific business opportunity to launch the corresponding product. Beijing Dongfang Ancheng Electronic Co., Ltd. is an example of a new e-Power multi-function access controller introduced in response to the Olympic Games opportunity. With the approaching of the 2008 Olympic Games, the demand for security products in the Beijing market has also greatly improved. Compared with other access control products on the market, e-Power will cost about 1-1.5 times more. Of course, such a high price also has its own reason for existence - the use of advanced features and technologies. According to Zhao Bin, director of intelligent marketing at Shenzhen Lize, Lize Intelligence, which aims to build the first brand in the financial security industry, has successfully integrated internal R&D and sales departments, and produced industry-specific products for a full range of products (CCTV+DVR+access control). The program will present its own product chain advantages.

Second, actively expand the product line. Zhang Zongzhi, general manager of Shanghai Ouyi, pointed out that the relationship between the access control system and the locks is similar to the teeth and lips. Acting Australia's Microlatch wireless fingerprint access control monitoring system is an important step in expanding the product line. In the future, it will continue to search for products with uniqueness. Introduce foreign fine technologies into China.

Thirdly, it takes advantage of the Group to enter the security industry. Assistant Director of Marketing of TCL's Intelligent Building Division said that with the strong strength of TCL Group, TCL Electric Intelligent Building Business Unit is strongly involved in the security market. From integrated wiring systems, security monitoring systems, and smart home systems, TCL has used its own R&D groups to create an overall product line. The price will be one of TCL's sharp weapons. The quality of medium and high-end products will meet or exceed that of foreign products of the same type, but the price will have an advantage of about 30%. Next year's goal is to become a domestic NO.1 in a comparative advantage product line.

In addition, continuing to "fight" in the domestic market with counterfeit goods and vicious cheap competition is the "homework" that most access control manufacturers continue to do. Ding Meizhu, sales manager of Zhejiang Hongtai Electronic Equipment Co., Ltd. pointed out that the problem of counterfeit goods in China is too serious, so that regular manufacturers are struggling to deal with it. She stressed: As a manufacturer, only "R&D" has the "blood-making" function and can inject strength into itself. Wang Bing, general manager of Beijing Landsworth Co., Ltd., which has accounted for more than half of the market in the field of domestic electronic patrol/surveillance systems, said that the company’s countermeasures against counterfeit goods include: technology first, intellectual property rights; product serialization; The company implements services; on the basis of quality assurance, it strives for more favorable prices, such as a price reduction of 10%-15%.

As for foreign investors, they have not dared to lightly handle the Chinese market. Albert Drumm, ASSAABLOY's current market promotion manager for TRIMEC, a leading brand in China, pointed out that competing with rivals in the Chinese market requires leading technologies and scale expansion. In the future, it does not exclude manufacturing plants in China and lowers costs. Now, TRIMEC is still targeting high-end customer base. Albert Drumm confidently stated that under the favorable factors of product technology and sales channels, it should be able to take 50% of the market share of the high-end market in 2005.

The trend of digitalization, networking, and integration of security products is still on the rise. Access control products are no exception. Fortunately, products with network, integration, and various biometric functions have gone from the past in terms of technology and price. "Highly unreachable" gradually spread to the market. In order to respond to increasingly fierce competition, the market operation modes of domestic and foreign manufacturers are becoming more and more flexible. It is believed that with the addition of the two forces, the access control market will become more and more prosperous.