My country's civilian smart lock industry truly entered the market in 2001, and its development can be divided into several stages: 2001-2003 was the industry development period; 2004-2008 was the accumulation period; 2008-2014 was the technology and product accumulation period; and from 2015 onwards, the industry entered a growth period. As of 2018, my country's smart lock industry had more than 1,300 manufacturers and nearly 2,800 brands. It is estimated that in the next 5-10 years, the total demand for smart locks in my country will exceed 30 million sets, and the total industry output value will exceed 100 billion yuan.
Door lock technology has undergone a profound transformation from traditional mechanical locks to smart locks. Some have summarized this as three technological revolutions: the first was the upgrade from traditional wooden doors and iron locks to "security doors"; the second was the upgrade from "security doors" to a convenient entry method of "security doors + smart locks"; and the third is a further upgrade to integrated "smart entry doors."
In the future, networked smart locks utilizing internet and smart home technologies will dominate the market. Among recognition technologies, biometrics will remain the mainstream, with semiconductor fingerprint and facial recognition technologies taking center stage. In terms of panel structure, lever-handle smart locks are expected to remain dominant for the next five years. Meanwhile, as a product heavily reliant on service experience, the installation and after-sales service experience of smart locks are currently pain points in the industry.
