Biometrics cited as fastest growing segment of electronic access control market in North America
17 September, 2007
category: Biometrics, Contactless, Corporate, Financial, Government
Biometrics was named as the fastest growing segment in the North American electronic access control (EAC) market in Frost & Sullivan’s new report. The Frost & Sullivan research titled “North American Electronic Access Control Market – Investment Analysis and Growth Opportunities” examined card, biometric and audio/video-based EAC markets and their financial data. Security concerns, national ID programs and government mandates are driving the EAC industry to grow rapidly. The card-based EAC segment is currently the largest portion of the industry in North America.
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c68027.
Biometrics is Emerging as the Fastest Growing Segment in the North American Electronic Access Control Market
DUBLIN, Ireland — Research and Markets has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan’s new report: “North American Electronic Access Control Markets – Investment Analysis and Growth Opportunities” to their offering.
The Frost & Sullivan research titled “North American Electronic Access Control Market – Investment Analysis and Growth Opportunities” provides financial benchmarking analysis of the biometrics industry including year-to-date performance of Frost & Sullivan biometrics stocks and valuation multiples for electronic access companies, growth monitor that ranks companies based on prospective revenue growth, and industry growth outlook that discusses market estimates. In this research service, Frost & Sullivan’s expert analysts thoroughly examine the following electronic access control applications: card-based, biometrics-based, and audio-video-based.
Market Sectors
Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research:
- Card based Electronic Access Control
- Biometric based Electronic Access Control
- Audio-video based Electronic Access Control
Increasing Trend towards Multifactor Identification
Presently in its growth stage, the North American electronic access control (EAC) market is being primarily driven by the growing security concerns and mandates being enforced by several regulatory agencies. This apart, the advent of multifactor authentication, which facilitates the usage of existing legacy systems with the possibility of instant upgrading/switching in case of additional security requirements, has also increased the popularity of electronic access control as a security tool. Moreover, it is now possible to integrate biometrics with smart cards. In a typical standalone biometric installation, the number of people that a reader can service is limited and based on the number of templates that can be stored onto the reader. Since smart cards can carry the templates on themselves, the reader becomes available to unlimited number of users.
However, existing investments in legacy systems are deterring organizations from opting for upgrades before the end of the lifetime of such systems. “For example, the typical lifespan of a card-based system is five years and hence, an organization that has installed a proximity card-based access control system recently is unlikely to invest on a completely new system immediately, unless the new system is supplementary and fully interoperable with the older system,” notes the analyst of this research service. “Integrators are hence facing challenges in ensuring backward compatibility of their products, through which new technologies such as smart cards will be compatible with proximity or magnetic stripe cards.”
Biometric Segment Emerging as the Fastest Growing Market Segment
Biometrics, as a means of identity verification, has gained acceptance over the last two years and is quickly becoming the fastest growing segment in the North American EAC market. Over the last year, intense focus was on nationwide ID projects, which involved huge deployment of funds by the government toward biometrics. In addition, more standards were enforced, ensuring greater regulation as well as interoperability among various biometrics technologies. As an EAC application, biometrics is shifting toward contactless technology, but privacy concerns are delaying the adoption process.
Despite the emergence of the biometric segment, the card-based EAC segment still remains the largest segment of the total North American EAC market. A significant driver for the North American card-based EAC segment was the benefit that the transit market derived from the usage of smart cards. The pilot programs ensured interoperability and ease of use to the consumers, who were until then using multiple cards at different entry points. Going forward, the increasing acceptance of contactless payment is likely to aid the growth of this segment. “With a market share of nearly 50 percent, the North American card-based EAC segment was the largest segment in the year 2006,” says the analyst. “This trend is likely to continue until 2007, after which biometrics-based and audio-video-based EAC segments are likely to gain larger market shares in comparison to the card-based segment.”
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c68027.