Market drivers of the security locks industry include the growing number of commercial and residential projects, the rising adoption of innovative and sophisticated technologies, the surging investment in smart cities, the growing need for customer tracking, and the increasing demand for waterproof padlocks in the marine industry. While electronic locks are increasingly replacing mechanical locks, the demand for mechanical locks is still growing.
Commercial and Residential Projects
- The growing number of commercial and residential projects, as well as the renovation of existing buildings, is expected to boost the growth prospects of the security locks industry globally. The integration of smart locks with home automation devices provides security and convenience for users.
- A smart lock is a "mechanical and electrical locking device that has the ability to open wirelessly with authentication by authorized users’. Smart locks allow homeowners to enter their homes or provide others access without the requirement for a traditional key. Smart locks allow users to use various other, more accessible objects such as a key fob or a smartphone in order to wirelessly verify and mechanically and unlock the door".
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The rising use of smartphones globally has created further opportunities for industry players, as they are continuously introducing apps for locking/unlocking solutions.
- Stay aggregator companies such as Airbnb Inc. and Couchsurfing International, Inc. require the provision of temporary access by homeowners to guests, which has led to increased deployment of smart locks.
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The residential segment of the market is expected to provide the largest market share of over 65.0% by 2027.
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Residential security is a major concern of people who were the first to adopt smart home technology. Smart home solutions include "sensors, cameras, electronic locks and security alarms, and cameras with advanced features such as fire alarms, power management devices, climate control, and self-powered lights".
- Rising security concerns are driving the demand for high security locking solutions in residential and commercial spaces.
- In addition, mechanical locks are used in place of or as a backup for electrical locks, in case of a system error, which also increases demand.
Innovative and Sophisticated Technologies
- Smart locks are projected to experience huge growth prospects, especially in "cloud-based locking management solutions", as a result of the deployment of innovative locking/unlocking mechanisms via smartphones, key fobs, tablets, and other mobile devices.
- Continuous development and adoption of sophisticated technologies, including Near Field Communication (NFC), Z-wave/ZigBee, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for easy access to locking functions is projected to attract new customers, thereby boosting product sales.
- Companies such as August Home and Danalock International ApS have launched location-based locks, where the user’s arrival is detected by the device which unlocks the door as soon as the user gets into the GPS geofence. Several companies in the industry are focusing on the deployment of the latest technologies, such as the "touch-to-unlock model for automatic unlocking mechanism and incorporation of capacitive touch sensors in their products".
- Key players are forging partnerships with smart ecosystem solution providers like Samsung, Google, and Amazon in order to integrate the novel technologies with proprietary smart solutions like Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, Samsung SmartThings, and Apple Homekit.
- The rising trend of Internet of Things (IoT) has boosted the global penetration of smart home security systems.
- Increasing consumer awareness of secure and advanced home solutions, as well as the steady growth in the deployment of connected devices, is having a positive influence on the market.
Investment in Smart Cities
- The rising investment in several smart city projects is a major driver of the security locks industry. According to Frost & Sullivan, the global smart city market is expected to be worth around $1.56 trillion by 2025.
- In February 2020, the European Investment Bank stated that investment in smart cities was around $124 billion globally. The investment estimate was based on information from about 100 major cities from various countries including the U.K., U.S., India, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, and others.
- In June 2020, the Singapore Government Technology Agency (GovTech), planned to invest about $3.50 billion to develop security and monitoring solutions in smart city projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. This would facilitate the adoption of work from home policies by enterprises and their employees.
- Major players in the market like Assa Abloy AB, August, Google LLC, and Godrej Group, are focusing on producing connected door locks devices for various buildings in smart city projects. They are also making plans to execute business strategies such as mergers and acquisitions in order to broaden their product offerings.
- For example, Assa Abloy AB, a Swedish-based lock manufacturer, acquired HID Global Corp., a biometric identity management firm in September 2018 in order to produce advanced door locks for several smart city projects.
Customer Tracking
- The need to track customer footfalls for security purposes has greatly expanded the penetration of the global electronic locks market.
- Parking lots, shopping malls, gyms, metro platforms, and other organizations are increasingly adopting them.
- The process of deployment has become easier and the need for improved security has considerably increased.
Waterproof Locks
- The growing demand for waterproof padlocks in the marine industry has boosted the growth of the global mechanical locks market.
- Weatherproof padlocks are fitted with a protected keyway and plastic cover which provide protection grit.
- The locks are also keyless, portable, and resistant to saltwater and harsh weather conditions. Their scope of application in the marine industry is broad.