Shanghai’s reopening creates US$7.5 billion market for smart devices that track individuals’ temperature, vaccinations and Covid-19 results

As many as two million ‘digital sentry’ machines could be deployed in public venues in the coming weeks, Everbright Securities says

If the devices are proven to be highly effective in helping Shanghai guard against the Omicron variant, they could be seen everywhere in China’s most congested cities: analyst

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People gather on the Bund along the Huangpu River in Shanghai on June 1, following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in the city after a two-month lockdown. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:00pm, 3 Jun 2022

Shanghai’s reopening and switch to normal coronavirus control methods after a two-month-long citywide lockdown is expected to create huge demand for digital devices that check and track individuals’ temperature, vaccination status and recent movement, generating sales worth 50 billion yuan (US$7.5 billion), analysts said.

As many as two million such “digital sentry” machines could be deployed in public venues such as hospitals, shopping centres, office buildings and entertainment venues in the coming weeks, according to brokerage Everbright Securities.

In report published late last month, it said that such devices will be in high demand nationwide because of China’s zero-Covid policy and would lead to sales worth 50 billion yuan. Most digital sentry machines have been developed and are manufactured by SenseTime, China’s largest artificial intelligence (AI) firm, as well as Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology and Zhejiang Dahua Technology, the country’s biggest surveillance camera makers.

“The real market demand could largely beat the [Everbright Securities] estimate, given the size of China’s huge market,” said Cao Hua, partner at private-equity firm Unity Asset Management. “If the devices are proven to be highly effective in helping Shanghai guard against the Omicron variant, they could be seen everywhere in the country’s most congested cities.”

Shanghai, China’s most developed metropolis, allowed more than 22.5 million residents – or 90 per cent of its population of 25 million – to leave their compounds on June 1 after largely bringing its latest Covid-19 outbreak under control. Public transport has been fully resumed, but people are required to provide negative results from nucleic acid tests taken within 72 hours before using public transport or visiting public venues.

Moreover, public venues and residents who fail to abide by the rules of Shanghai’s digital health-code system will face punishment, Zhu Junwei, deputy director of the Shanghai Big Data Centre, told a press briefing in late May.

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