The world experienced an unprecedented shift towards video conferencing in 2020, accelerating conference camera shipments to an all-time high of 1.2 million units, according to a new report from Futuresource Consulting. That represents an increase of 56% over 2019, with enough residual demand to continue to influence the market in 2021 and beyond.
“Video has now become ubiquitous, regardless of the industry,” says Adam Cox, Principal Analyst, Futuresource Consulting. “Across much of the world, frequent video communications are now an expected and everyday element of working life. For many, what began as a hurried and often uncomfortable necessity, has evolved into a powerful essential business tool.”
An Investment in Hybrid Working
“We’re now seeing the rise of a hybrid working model, where location is increasingly irrelevant. As a result, transferring from one working environment to another has to be near-seamless. And that demands extensive investment in the right tools, whether that’s conference cameras for meeting rooms or webcams for personal solutions.”
Increased interest in video has helped to boost the entire market. However, first-mover advantage has created additional value for vendors like Logitech, which was well placed to make the most of the evolving climate.
Pro Webcam takes the Lead
The pro webcam segment leads the way in growth terms. Volumes increased by 89% last year, despite suffering some of the most acute supply problems. This segment is a hallmark of the North American market, where there is a strong work-from-home culture, combined with the willingness to invest in personal conferencing solutions. Pro webcams also do well in EMEA, yet struggle in APAC and China, where there is both a reluctance to spend on premium web cams and a stronger cultural preference to avoid home-working where possible.
A New Future for Business
“As we move forward, two major trends are playing to the strengths of the conference camera market,” says Cox. “The adoption of video into everyday working life has permanently changed people’s expectations of remote communications. Alongside this, the forced work-from-home experiment has been surprisingly successful.
“Even post-pandemic, we expect most organisations to adopt a hybrid work model where employees are sometimes in central locations, and sometimes remote. As a result, we’ll see substantial long-term investments being made in meeting room collaboration technologies.”