by Shane Henson — September 24, 2012—Laser-based aspirating smoke detectors and multisensors are set to be the next big thing in the fire detection industry, according to new research published by IMS Research, a supplier of market research and consultancy to the global electronics industry.
IMS Research says that technologies are forecast to see the fastest growth globally with compound-annual growth rates of 9% and 7.3%, respectively, from 2011 to 2016.
“We are seeing an era of modernization in the industry,” says Adi Pavlovic, an IMS Research analyst and report author. “Not only are manufacturers looking to make fire detection products more reliable, but economical as well.”
Worth an estimated $239.5 million in 2011, multisensor detectors were the world’s second-largest detector market, says IMS Research. Multisensor detectors combine several technologies into a single product to increase efficiency while lowering installation costs. While an overwhelming majority of the multisensor market is a combination of optical and heat detection, a trend to combine three, four or even five detection technologies is increasing in popularity.
Strong construction growth in niche industries such as data centers, utilities, and offshore facilities supports the development of more advanced detection products due to the difficult environment these applications present for detection. Aspirating smoke detectors have a strong reputation in these industries and are expected to mimic the growth profile of the telecommunications industry, while expanding into more industrial applications over time, notes the company.
That being said, the detector market will continue to be dominated by optical detectors, which were estimated to account for almost half of the world’s fire detector market in 2011.
