The Global Intercom and Access Control Industry: Economic History, Technological Evolution, and Market Leaders

The modern intercom industry represents a unique combination of electrical engineering, security systems, and information technology. For more than a century, this sector has evolved from simple acoustic tubes to complex cloud ecosystems integrated with artificial intelligence. By 2025, the global market for intercom devices is valued at USD 33.4 billion, with projected growth to USD 75.6 billion by 2032, corresponding to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.4%.

Industry formation: initial needs and early solutions

The economic history of intercoms began as a response to the challenges of the first wave of mass urbanisation in the late 19th century. Increasing building height and population density in megacities such as New York, London, and Paris created a fundamental gap between the need for security and the need for convenient access for visitors. Before the emergence of electrical systems, communication inside buildings was provided by acoustic tubes, which transmitted sound vibrations over distances of up to 300 feet (about 90 metres).

These early solutions had critical economic and operational shortcomings. Installing bulky metal pipework inside walls was an expensive and architecturally complex procedure. Moreover, physical sound attenuation limited the height of buildings in which such systems were effective. At this stage, the market was fragmented and served by local workshops and plumbing companies rather than specialised technology firms.

Technological shift: the adoption of telephony

The turning point came in the 1890s, when Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone began to be adapted for in-building communication needs. In 1894, the Kellogg Switchboard and Supply Company received a patent for the first intercom system based on telephone principles. The economic model began to transform: mechanical components were replaced by electrical engineering products, requiring centralised manufacturing and standardisation.

The first telephone systems operated on the principle of closing an electrical circuit. A visitor at the entrance panel pulled a handle, which closed a relay and activated a buzzer in the resident’s flat. This solution was significantly cheaper than laying acoustic tubes and made it possible to scale systems to multi-storey apartment buildings of any height. However, at this stage intercoms were not yet considered a separate market; they were a by-product of the rapidly developing telecommunications industry.

The rise of national champions

In the first half of the 20th century, institutional players began to take shape – the companies that today are the patriarchs of the industry. The German company S. Siedle & Söhne, founded in 1750 as a foundry workshop for the clock industry, switched to manufacturing telephones in 1887. This was a strategic manoeuvre by Robert Siedle, who realised that electrical engineering would ensure the survival of the family business in the new era. In 1935, the company released Portavox – the first door loudspeaker, which effectively created the concept of modern door entry communication.

In the same period, the foundations of other regional leaders were laid. Japan’s Aiphone was founded in 1948 in Nagoya, beginning its journey during the post-war reconstruction period. Spain’s Fermax began operations in 1949 with the production of a radio intercom for industrial use. These companies had one thing in common: they emerged in response to the need to restore and modernise urban infrastructure in the post-war period.

Table 1. Comparison of early intercom technologies and models

Global expansion: breakthroughs and scaling

The second half of the 20th century was marked by a technological revolution driven by the invention of the transistor in 1947. This made it possible to abandon unreliable vacuum tubes and create compact, durable devices with low power consumption. For the intercom industry, this meant the ability to mass-produce standard modules, which sharply reduced barriers to entry and the cost of systems for the end consumer.

Evolution of costs and performance

The transition to solid-state relays in the 1950s and 1960s allowed intercoms to get rid of moving parts, which wore out quickly. This changed the product’s economic profile: the intercom turned from an expensive device requiring constant maintenance into a reliable infrastructure element with a service life of 15-20 years.

In the 1970s, intercom systems were widely adopted in Spain, Germany, and Japan. Fermax began exporting its products in 1970, offering the market anodised aluminium panels of the Series 24, which became a benchmark for durability and aesthetics. In 1974, designer Ramon Benedito created the T-1 handset for Fermax, which sold more than 4.5 million units. This was an example of how industrial design became a tool of market dominance, turning a utilitarian device into an interior object.

Video intercoms: the shift to visual control

The emergence of video intercoms in the 1980s was a response to growing security requirements amid high crime rates in large cities. The first video system on the German market was introduced by Siedle in 1972 under the name Video-Portavox. In 1980, Fermax patented a digital video system for residential complexes, enabling video signals to be transmitted over long distances without loss of quality.

The economic significance of video intercoms is difficult to overestimate. They allowed developers to increase property values by positioning security as a premium service. During this period, a classic profitability cycle formed: high initial equipment costs were offset by long-term increases in asset value and reduced spending on physical security (concierges).

Standardisation and global reach: the Aiphone case

The Japanese company Aiphone became a leader in global scaling by betting on total quality management (TQM). In 1981, the company received the Deming Prize, becoming the first intercom manufacturer to be awarded this prize. This secured Aiphone’s credibility in the most conservative markets, including US government institutions (the company’s products are installed even in the White House).

Aiphone’s strategy was to create a broad product portfolio – from the simplest audio systems to complex solutions for hospitals and prisons. By 1993, the company was the first in the industry to obtain ISO 9001 certification, which finally cemented its status as a global supplier. Global reach required localisation: Aiphone created an extensive network of distributors in 60 countries, enabling it to hold 61% of Japan’s domestic market and significant shares in North America and Europe.

Crises and regulation: shocks that reshaped the structure

The intercom industry was not protected from external shocks. The property crises of the 1990s and 2008, as well as regulatory shifts in accessibility and data protection, became filters through which only the most efficient companies passed.

Political and regulatory shift: accessibility and inclusion

One of the most powerful regulatory factors was the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), adopted in 1990, and similar European standards. These laws obliged developers to install communication systems accessible to people with hearing, vision, and motor impairments. For manufacturers, this meant the need to implement:

• Visual indicators of call and door release for the hard of hearing.
• Braille on call buttons.
• Speech synthesisers to inform visitors.

Compliance with these standards (for example, installation height of panels and button-press force) became a mandatory condition for obtaining building certificates. This created significant barriers to entry for new players, as the cost of product development and certification rose sharply. Large companies such as Siedle and Aiphone turned this into a competitive advantage by creating dedicated product lines fully compliant with the ADA and building codes (IBC).

Consolidation and impact on profitability

Since the late 1980s, a wave of consolidation began. Electrical engineering giants started acquiring specialised manufacturers to control the “entry point” into the smart building.

• Legrand acquired Italy’s Bticino in 1989, enabling it to take a dominant position in the European luxury intercom market.
• Assa Abloy carried out more than 400 acquisitions, including companies specialising in smart-card access and IP intercoms (for example, Calmell in Spain in 2025).
• ABB integrated intercoms into its Smart Buildings system through the acquisition of Cylon Controls and the development of the Welcome range.

Consolidation led to business margins beginning to depend not so much on selling hardware as on the ability to offer an integrated solution combined with wiring devices and building automation systems.

Table 2. Landmark M&A deals in the sector (1989-2025)

Competition: how advantage is created and maintained

In the mature intercom market, competitive advantage is built on a combination of technological leadership, brand strength, and control over distribution channels.

Strategies of leaders: cost versus design

Companies split into two camps. The first is cost-and-scale leaders such as Hikvision and Dahua. Founded in the early 2000s in China, they used state support and enormous domestic demand (“Safe City” programmes) to create manufacturing capacities unmatched in the world. Hikvision invests about 10% of revenue in R&D and has a staff of 19,000 engineers, enabling it to release new products every few months. Their advantage lies in price and integration with AI (face recognition).

The second camp is “defenders of quality and design” such as Siedle and 2N. Siedle holds 50% of the German market, producing all equipment exclusively in the Black Forest. Their strategy is “Made in Germany” as a symbol of reliability and durability. Siedle offers spare parts for systems installed decades ago, creating unprecedented loyalty among property management companies. 2N, in turn, bet on compatibility, creating devices based on open SIP protocols that integrate easily with any IP PBX or smart home system.

Failures and structural constraints

The main failure for many brands was an inability to move from analogue systems to digital. Companies that relied too long on proprietary (closed) protocols faced an inability to integrate their devices into modern building IT networks.

Another constraint was maintenance cost. Cheap systems that failed after 3-5 years created a negative reputational trail. In the multi-tenant segment, the cost of replacing a system (including cable works) often exceeds the cost of the equipment itself by 3-4 times, which forces customers to choose proven brands even at a higher price.

Industry players: dynamics of leadership

Genealogy of dominance

In each period of the industry’s history, different forces dominated. At the beginning of the century these were telecommunications giants, in the middle – specialised electrical engineering firms, and today – IT-oriented corporations.

Commax (South Korea): Founded in 1968 as Central Electronic Industry, the company became a pioneer of video intercoms in Asia. In 1993, Commax was the first in the world to obtain UL certification for a video intercom, opening the doors to the US market. Their success was driven by “glocalisation” – adapting products to the requirements of 130 countries worldwide.

BAS-IP (United Kingdom/International level): Founded in 2008 in the United Kingdom, the company occupied a unique niche, initially focusing exclusively on the development of IP video intercom systems and access control systems. Unlike traditional players, BAS-IP did not go through the transition stage from analogue technologies, which allowed it to implement innovations more quickly in mobile access and integration with “smart building” systems. By 2025, the brand had expanded its presence to 47 countries, betting on modern design and flexible software.

2N (Czech Republic): A turning point came in 2008 when 2N introduced the world’s first IP intercom. This event marked the beginning of the end of the analogue era. In 2016, 2N was acquired by Axis Communications (part of the Canon group), creating a powerful tandem in network video surveillance and access control.

Hikvision and Dahua (China): By 2021, Hikvision held 17% of the global video surveillance market and Dahua 5.5%. In the video intercom segment, their influence is even higher in developing countries. However, their leadership is limited by geopolitical factors and sanctions in the US and a number of EU countries due to concerns about cyber security.

Digital shifts and automation

IP technologies transformed the intercom into a full-fledged computer at the building entrance. Modern systems offer:

• Cloud management: Building administrators can manage access rights for thousands of residents remotely via a browser (for example, the My2N or AiphoneCloud platform).
• Mobile access and identification: A smartphone becomes a universal key. Technologies such as BAS-IP UKEY allow a mobile device to be used as an identifier via Bluetooth (BLE) and NFC, fully replacing physical cards and fobs.
• Deep integration: Intercoms stop being isolated devices. Thanks to open APIs and support for the SIP 2.0 protocol, solutions from companies such as BAS-IP integrate seamlessly with video management systems (VMS) such as Milestone and Genetec, as well as lift equipment (Kone) and home automation (Control4, Fibaro).

New entrants and changing business models

The emergence of companies such as ButterflyMX (founded in 2014) turned the multi-tenant market upside down. They proposed the concept of a “smart video intercom” that does not require indoor monitors in flats – the video call goes directly to the smartphone. This allowed developers to save tens of thousands of dollars on running cables inside a building.

ButterflyMX’s economics are built on monthly payments from each flat for use of the cloud service. This Recurring Monthly Revenue (RMR) model is extremely attractive to investors because it provides stable cash flow and a high company valuation. In 2022, Intercom (a company of a similar profile) was valued at USD 1.3 billion.

Impact on margin and allocation of capital

Traditional hardware manufacturers face margin pressure due to competition from Chinese factories. To preserve profitability, they are forced to invest in software. Gross margin for purely hardware solutions rarely exceeds 30-40%, whereas the margin of software services and cloud platforms can reach 70-80%. This drives a reallocation of capital towards R&D divisions dealing with AI and cyber security.

Regional differences: factors of geography and politics

The global intercom market is clearly segmented by region, driven by construction history and government regulation.

North America: security priority and ADA

The US market is characterised by the highest requirements for reliability and compliance with accessibility standards. Aiphone dominates here, and cloud start-ups are also growing actively. An important factor is the high share of private houses, where video intercoms are integrated with smart home systems (Amazon Ring, Google Nest). As of 2024, North America accounts for about 34% of the global intercom market.

Europe: design and privacy

In Europe (especially in Germany and France), customers pay attention to design and compliance with GDPR (personal data protection). Leaders here are Siedle, 2N, Comelit, and Legrand. Europe has a strong trend towards “smart cities”, where intercoms become part of municipal security infrastructure.

Asia-Pacific: scale and AI

This is the fastest-growing market (CAGR 14.3% to 2030), driven by China and India. Here, intercoms are implemented as part of large-scale housing digitalisation projects. The main focus is on face recognition and contactless access, which became especially relevant after the pandemic.

Conclusion: results of evolution and investment horizon

An analysis of the history of the intercom industry shows that the sector has completed the transition from mechanical means of communication (acoustic tubes) through analogue electronics (buzzers and transistors) to digital ecosystems (IP and cloud platforms).

Key findings of the study:

Technological convergence: The intercom has ceased to be simply a “doorbell”. Today it is a multifunctional device combining the functions of video surveillance, access control, and a smart home management terminal. Companies that bet on IP from the outset (such as BAS-IP or 2N) gained a strategic advantage over traditional giants forced to modernise their heavy analogue platforms.

Subscription economics: The market is moving from one-off equipment sales to the Recurring Monthly Revenue (RMR) model. Company value is now determined not by the volume of hardware shipped, but by the number of active users in cloud services.

Security as a standard: Regulatory norms (ADA, GDPR) and growing cyber security requirements create high barriers to entry. Long-term dominance will be retained by those players who invest in data protection and seamless integration with global IT platforms.

For investors, the intercom sector has transformed into a resilient infrastructure niche with predictable income. In the context of global digitalisation, the “last mile” before entering a building remains the most valuable asset, control over which guarantees long-term economic efficiency.