Security Equipment Prices Are Rising. Here's How Smart Buyers Are Getting Ahead of It.

If you have a security or camera project on your list for this year, the price you were quoted in the spring may not be the price you pay in the fall. Across the security industry, equipment costs are climbing — and manufacturers are passing those costs along on a schedule.

This isn't a scare piece. It's a heads-up, and a short playbook. Rising prices are manageable if you see them coming. The buyers who get hurt are the ones who wait until the project is urgent, then discover the budget they set six months ago no longer covers it.

Here's what's happening, and what you can do about it.

Why prices are going up

The short version: the parts inside security equipment got more expensive, fast.

The biggest driver is memory. Every camera, recorder, and AI appliance depends on memory chips, and right now the world's chipmakers are shifting their production toward high-bandwidth memory for AI data centers. That leaves less standard memory for everything else. Industry reporting put the jump in standard memory prices at 80 to 95 percent in a single quarter earlier this year.

Memory isn't alone. Image sensors, circuit boards, and other core components have seen increases in the range of 30 to 70 percent, driven by raw material and logistics costs.

Manufacturers absorbed some of that. They can't absorb all of it. Hikvision raised prices 8 to 15 percent in late February. Dahua followed in March with increases of 3 to 8 percent. Other manufacturers have been announcing their own adjustments through their dealer channels since — often weeks before the new pricing takes effect.

That last part matters more than the percentages. Because when an increase is announced ahead of time, there's a window. And a window is something you can use.

The playbook: how to buy smarter in a rising market

You can't control component prices. You can control when and how you buy. Four moves make the difference.

Ask your integrator what increases are already scheduled. Manufacturers rarely surprise their dealers. Price adjustments usually come with notice — sometimes 30 days or more before they take effect. Your integrator knows those dates. Ask. At DSC, we've made it a standing commitment to tell our clients about scheduled increases as soon as we learn about them, so there's time to act instead of react. Right now, that applies to i-PRO: the manufacturer has scheduled a price increase effective September 2. Anyone considering i-PRO cameras or equipment has a known window to work with.

Get quotes now for anything planned in the next six to twelve months. A quote does something budget estimates can't: it locks a number. Quotes issued before an increase hold current pricing for their validity period, even if you don't sign the same week. If a camera refresh, an addition to your system, or a new building is anywhere on your roadmap, pricing it now costs you nothing and protects the number. On the i-PRO increase specifically — quotes we issue before September 2 hold today's pricing.

Move the "someday" project up. Some projects sit on the list for months because nothing forces a decision. A scheduled increase is a reason to run the math. On a $50,000 equipment package, an increase in the range manufacturers have been announcing is $2,500 to $7,500 — money that buys you nothing extra. Waiting doesn't always cost that much. But in a rising market, waiting is no longer free, and it helps to price the delay honestly.

Budget next year with escalation built in. If you're planning 2027 capital projects using 2025 numbers, the budget will come up short. Component pressure is expected to continue through the year. When you build next year's plan, ask for current pricing rather than reusing last year's proposal — and leave room for movement on anything you won't purchase until late in the year.

One honest caveat

None of this means you should buy equipment you don't need. Stockpiling cameras to beat a price increase is how gear ends up sitting in a storeroom while its warranty runs. The playbook applies to projects you were already planning — the goal is to shift real purchases earlier, not to invent new ones.

If nothing is on your roadmap, the only move that costs nothing is the first one: know what increases are coming, so you're never surprised.

Where DSC fits

We watch manufacturer pricing so our clients don't have to. When an increase is scheduled — like i-PRO's on September 2 — we tell you, and we give you a window to lock current pricing with a quote.

If there's a camera or security project on your list, even a rough one, this is a good month to put a real number on it. Call us at (713) 464-8407 or reach out through thinkdsc.com. We'll price it at today's rates, and you can decide from there.