Product Exploration had no other option, but now with the standalone NVRs available, it is natural that they will adopt it at a rapid pace,” he added. Hence, some feel that standalone NVRs will take over some market share of PC-based NVRs, but this will be mostly concentrated in the mid-market segments. The mid- to high-scale installations will remain reserved for PC-based NVRs as end users require more channels and more complex integration, scalability, and storage. At the same time, “PC-based NVRs may have an advantage because VMS technology is mature. However, with the adoption of advanced solutions and more efforts invested in standalone NVR technology, the scalability and flexibility of standalone NVRs would be enhanced dramatically. In other words, the rapid development of standalone NVRs would greatly decrease the traditional merits of PC-based NVRs,” commented Ice Wu, Product Director of Dahua Technology on the development of standalone NVRs. The rising popularity of standalone NVRs has resulted in numerous manufacturers sprouting up in Shenzhen, China. Although standalone NVRs from these manufacturers come with a considerably lower price tag, Wu does not feel the need to be threatened by them. “I feel that they will have their place in the market, albeit mostly at the
lower end. Dahua has paid attention to this trend and we have been strengthening and completing our product offerings to meet market demands," she highlighted.
Market trends bY region According to Chris Hsu, Marketing Manager at Merit LILIN, conservative market figures for PC-based versus standalone NVRs are approximately 92 percent versus 8 percent this year. The ratios would likely change in favor of standalone NVRs to 85:15 next year, and 70:30 the year after. The uptake of standalone NVRs is different amongst the various regions worldwide. “China is a mature market and the world’s manufacturing hub of standalone NVRs. Hence, from our perspective, roughly 80 percent of the market is standalone NVRs,” said Eric Shen, Product Manager of DVR/NVR at Hikvision Digital Technology. The figures are slightly different in other regions of the world. “In emerging countries, the ratio of standalone NVRs to PC-based NVRs is roughly 50:50. The ratio is less for Europe and North America, because these regions are headquarters to many of the PC-based systems and have traditionally been more used to PC-based systems as a result,” explained Shen on the regional difference in the adoption of standalone NVRs.
Conservative market figures for PC-based versus standalone NVRs are approximately 92 percent versus 8 percent this year. Chris Hsu, Marketing Manager, Merit LILIN
There is still a large analog market out there and standalone NVRs will naturally replace the DVRs that are still out there. Aaron Yeh, Director, Surveon Technology
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Education remains key to the widespread adoption of standalone NVRs in these regions. “We work hard to show end users and system integrations the benefits of standalone NVRs and we find that this has been successful in penetrating the developed markets. At the same time, however, the first segments to adopt standalone NVRs would be the small and medium enterprises as they stand to benefit most,” explained Shen.
How tHe Market will sHift In looking at why PC-based NVRs currently have more presence in the market, Qiu explained that standalone NVRs have just been in the market for roughly three to four years and have yet to reach mass adoption stage. Currently, approximately 60 to 70 percent of the market is dominated by PC-based NVRs. However, based on the history of DVRs, the standalone DVR market matured in 2007 and rapidly reached mass adoption stage within three years. Drawing a parallel, he noted, “based on current market trends, it is likely that roughly 80 percent of the end users will select standalone NVRs in the near future. There will still be that 20 percent who would have special requirements and opt for PC-based NVRs. This is because the PC is a platform that enables end users to integrate multiple other systems as required. At the same time however, these are very specialized needs, so the majority of the market will gear towards standalone NVRs.” As standalone NVRs improve in capabilities and features, they stand to rival PC-based NVRs even further. The day when the global market share of standalone NVRs versus PC-based NVRs is 50:50 should not be far off.