Security boom boosts Sanyo amid slowdown

Ranee Sitthikaew, senior sales manager for Sanyo's multimedia section, yesterday said demand for CCTV in Thailand had grown this year among homeowners, private firms, property projects and retail businesses, because of heightened concern about bomb attacks and robbery.

As a result, Sanyo is expecting its CCTV sales to grow 33.33 per cent to 20,000 this year, from 15,000 units last year. Although intense competition will keep the consequent boost in sales revenue below 10 per cent, the company still expects CCTV revenue to reach Bt300 million, she said.

"Sales of home appliances are not good this year, because of the sluggish economy and the fact that some items are regarded as luxury goods. Most people want to save their money to pay for necessities. However, security products like CCTV enjoy excellent growth, and Sanyo has a long reputation in this segment, so we've created advanced products to meet this demand," she said.

Sanyo is the leader in Thailand's Bt3billion CCTV market, with a share of more than 15 per cent.

The new product, CCTV Mega Pixel, offers high resolution of 4 million pixels, 10 times higher than other CCTV systems. This makes it suitable for shopping malls, retail shops and outdoor projects, Ranee said.

"Largescale shopping malls are our priority target. We plan to persuade the operators of shopping malls to replace their old systems, particularly in blind spots in their buildings," she said.

About 30 per cent of Sanyo's CCTV sales are made to projects like property developments. Small and mediumsized enterprises, retail shops and household users take the rest.

CCTV products are part of Sanyo's digitalproducts segment, which contributes about 30 per cent of its total revenue. About 50 per cent comes from consumer electronics and the rest from commercial products.

Ranee said the economic slowdown and declining purchasing power were expected to affect Sanyo's business next year. The company is currently formulating a business strategy, to be announced next January.

Hiroyuki Kuriyama, deputy general manager for international sales and marketing at parent company Sanyo Electric, said the global value of CCTV sales was expected to reach US$10 billion (Bt340 billion) in 2010, with a growth rate of 15 per cent per annum.

Sanyo Electric expects its sales revenue from CCTV products to grow 40 per cent by 2010, he said.