Industry Insights
The global escalator market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.4% over the forecast period. Among the various growth factors, increasing urbanization and ageing population are expected to play a key role. Moreover, owing to increasing urban population, there is a drive to optimize construction space in urban areas, which is also expected to add to the growth of the market over the forecast period.
Global escalator market revenue, by services, 2014 - 2024 (USD Million)
Commercial segment dominates the global market with the increasing urbanization rate in multiple countries. To that end, key deployment avenues such as shopping malls and other commercial establishments are expected to add to the growth of the market. Investment in the construction and infrastructure sector is expected to spur the market over the forecast period. However, increasing awareness regarding safety, especially accidents involving children and aged people is expected to hamper the growth of the market.
The global market is expected to grow with the prevailing need to ensure easy mobility for passengers at stations and other similar establishments. For instance, in 2016, KONE, a key player in the elevators and escalators market, secured a deal to design, supply, and install altogether 189 KONE MonoSpace Special & KONE Transys(TM) elevators, 253 KONE TransitMaster escalators, and 102 TransitMaster autowalks in the Red and Gold lines for the Qatar Rail project in Doha.
Segmentation by type
• Step type escalator
• Moving walkways
• Spiral escalators
Among the above listed, step type dominates the market as they have a relatively high deployment venues including shopping malls and metro stations. Step type are classified in to parallel and multi-parallel. Parallel escalators are installed at places such as shopping malls, metro stations and multi-parallel ones are installed at airports and crowded places.
Moving walkways run horizontally and are commonly installed at establishments with large area such as airports and metro stations to ease passenger mobility. For instance, ThyssenKrupp installed moving walkways at Toronto Pearson international airport which helps passengers travelling from terminal towards the gates and vice versa.
Spiral escalators are experiencing substantial growth with increase in innovative designs and architectures. These are used for architectural beauty and for structural space requirement at places such as museum and malls. For instance, in Shanghai, Mitsubishi Electric installed largest spiral escalator which besides easing mobility, saves time in experiencing the mall.
Segmentation by services
• New installation
• Maintenance and overhaul
• Modernization
New installation segment is expected to witness relative high growth in the developing countries such as China and India in the Asia Pacific region. While maintenance segment is expected to grow as there is a need for periodical maintenance and overhaul for easy and smooth functioning of escalator.
Developed countries such as U.S., Canada, Dubai, and Germany are witnessing growth in the modernization segment as a result of technological advancement. As most of the deployments in developed countries is nearing their service end-term, the need for modernization of existing escalators remains highlighted over the forecast period.
Segmentation by region
• North America
• Asia-Pacific
• Europe
• Middle East & Africa
• Rest of world
By region, Asia-Pacific presents potential growth market with China and India presenting key growth opportunities for the market. The two developing nations are witnessing urbanization besides increasing investment in infrastructure including airports and metro projects which is expected to add to the growth of the market over the forecast period. On the other hand, Europe and North America are experiencing growth in the modernization segment; replacing old escalators with new units which also reduce energy consumption.
Competitive landscape
The global escalator industry is competitive with the presence of well-established domestic international vendors. These vendors provide installation, maintenance, modernization services. Over the forecast period, developing nations, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to remain highlighted for new units of escalator deployment in upcoming commercial spaces. Some of the key vendors active in the market include KONE CORPORATION, Schindler, Otis Elevator Company, thyssenkrupp AG, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Hitachi Ltd., and TOSHIBA ELEVATOR AND BUILDING SYSTEMS CORPORATION.
