A Dashboard Camera records the view through a vehicle’s windscreen. It is usually attached to the interior of the windscreen or on the top of the dashboard. The main use of dashboard camera is to record the view and provide evidence in case of emergency. The dashboard camera provides surveillance while in motion or either parked while he/she is away from the vehicle. There are several factors which drive the dashboard camera industry. The growing number of accidents has influenced the government in investing heavily in this market. The federal government recently passed the bill for mandatory installation of cameras for recording crucial data such as vehicle speed, seat belt buckling, brake position, throttle position and airbag deployment. With, increasing incidents of car thefts the dashboard camera is expected to have a significant growth over the next eight years. It can easily provide evidence against culprits and increasing demand for vehicle safety which will boost growth over the next eight years.
Dashboard camera can be segmented into two types which include single channel and dual channel systems. Single channels records the view of the road through the windshield and dual channels record the incidents taking place in the car as well as through the rear window. Most of the dashcams are manufactured in countries such as Taiwan and China, with the lack of regulation and policies in these countries there is very little use of dashcams worldwide. Single channel systems accounts for than 70 % of the market share, while dual channel systems are very costly as they record in-car events and external events. There are several technologies available with the dashcams such as Wi-Fi, GPS, ADAS and accelerometers to enhance utility. Single channel system is expected to grow at a significant growth over the next eight years owing to its variety of features while dual channel systems require holistic marketing to make increase awareness among customers.
However, there are restraints of using dashcams in vehicles which include invasion of privacy in countries such as the U.S. can hinder the growth of dashcams. Hackers can access these systems through wireless data exchanges. Countries such as Belgium, Germany, France, Norway and Portugal have policies to use dashcams for private use only. While, in countries such as Austria and Luxembourg the use of dashcams is an offence.
There are several applications of dashcams and it is used accordingly in different countries. In Russia there is a widespread use of dashcams to protect against police corruption and insurance fraud. Several vendors are providing dashcams with integrated technologies such as Wi-Fi, GPS and night vision cameras. The industry players are focusing on new product development and innovations to strengthen their market and gain a competitive edge over each other.. Regionally the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and rest of the world (ROW). North America is still an emerging market as compared to the other regions. While, Asia Pacific accounted for 30 % of the market share in the year 2014 on account of most of the presence of large number of manufacturers in countries such as China, Taiwan, India and South Korea. These countries provide cheap manpower and large production facilities.
Key players in the industry include Pittasoft, Panasonic, Fine Digital Inc., Lukas, Garmin,Cobra Electronics Corporation, Honeywell,Itronics Co. Ltd. and ABEO Co. Ltd. Companies are engaged in new product developments, innovation, agreements, collaborations, mergers & acquisitions and strategic business activities to strengthen their presence and increase distribution networks globally. This industry is expected to be highly competitive over the forecast period on account of incorporation of new processes and developments. Apart, from that several small manufacturers sell the dashcams at a lower price as compared to the global players. In the U.S. manufacturers are selling their products through online portals such as eBay and Amazon to increase their market share. Several mergers & acquisitions have taken place recently to sell the products globally such as SONY EXMOR lenses in the dashcams to improve the quality of the product and reliability in night i.e. low light.
