The total world market for image intensifier-type night-vision devices was $378.4 million for 1998, according to a recent report released by Frost & Sullivan in Mountain View, Calif. The company also predicted annual growth of 7.6 percent, reaching $499.6 million by 2005, despite increasing competition from uncooled infrared imaging systems in land-based applications.
Military buyers spent $302.3 million in 1998 -- a negative 8 percent growth rate, which reflects the cyclical nature of procurement. Compound annual growth rate for this segment is 3.7 percent. In the less-saturated market segment of law enforcement and commercial buyers, spending reached $76.1 million, which represented a 0.8 percent growth rate and a 5.5 percent compound annual growth rate.
Several factors are stimulating sales in both segments, including the increasingly small scale of military operations, the US government's war on drugs and the gradual loosening of American export controls.