Freedonia study: Security products and services demand in US education market to reach $2.5 billion in 2020

Increases in education security spending will benefit from a rebound in educational building construction expenditures

Demand for security products and services in the education market is expected to rise 3.4 percent annually to $2.5 billion in 2020. Increases in education security spending will benefit from a rebound in educational building construction expenditures, as the most significant security upgrades tend to occur when new buildings are constructed or during large-scale remodelling. Growing competition and innovation among more technologically advanced products - such as IP video surveillance cameras and access control devices - will continue to lead to lower product prices, boosting market penetration rates. Advances will be supported by the extensive media coverage of school shootings and other major security breaches and the corresponding increase in perceived risk of crime. Nonetheless, gains will slow slightly from the 2010-2015 period as spending continues to moderate following the surge in demand that followed the December 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting. These and other trends are presented in Education Security Market, a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry research firm.

The rising use of highly sophisticated and interrelated security systems will support increased spending in a number of related security product and service segments. According to Analyst Katherine Brink, “Such systems require greater attention throughout the planning, implementation, and maintenance stages, leading security consulting and systems integration and management services to see growth well above the market average through 2020.” Furthermore, the expanding use of electronic access control systems will promote sales of higher value electrified mechanical locks and other door security hardware, booting value gains in both product segments through the forecast period.

Various types of educational facilities have different security needs. For instance, higher education institutions are large, multi-building campuses, often with dorms, labs and large assembly halls. Therefore, their security needs tend to be extensive and involve the use of costlier systems. Primary and secondary schools tend to be less intensive users of security products and services on a per facility basis. However, they lead total annual revenue due to the large number of existing facilities.