Hikvision Wants Big Slice of North American Pie
Hikvision USA President Jeffrey He explains the video surveillance company’s plans to service security systems integrators and more in this Q&A.
Hikvision USA President Jeffrey He
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How long do you project analog being a viable revenue winner for Hikvision?
It’s important to remember that there’s still a huge analog base that has yet to convert, and this will probably delay migration from analog to IP in the market as a whole, whether analog is rendered obsolete or not. If you had asked me a year ago how long analog would be a viable revenue solution, I would have predicted that its time was drawing to a close. Yet with the introduction of our HD TVI [Turbo HD] product line, we see new life in the analog category by providing HD video over coaxial cable at an economical price point. In addition to being financially practical, this transitional solution also provides higher-level capabilities, which is why it’s going to be successful for a number of years.
IP will continue to grow, in part because greenfield installations will continue to be IP, but also because it offers more technological benefit. The second quarter of 2014 saw our sales of IP cameras surpassing those of the traditionally recognized market leader for the first time: we’re excited to seize this opportunity. In the meantime, installers have a high-quality HD option to use over their existing infrastructure, prolonging the value of their initial investment in that infrastructure.
What resources has the company committed to expand into a full IP video offering?
Hikvision has dedicated vast resources to providing a complete, end-to-end IP video offering. With our Smart Series, for example, we developed the analytical tools that are built into the cameras, and custom-tailored our NVRs to support the smart search and analysis of events. We address a full IP video offering at every level ranging from SMB solutions to enterprise. This runs the gamut from our value series IP cameras paired with plug and play NVRs, all the way up to professional level super NVRs with RAID configuration and redundant power supplies for high-reliability recording solutions.
What organizational process does Hikvision employ to ensure it is designing products to meet the needs and demands of the marketplace?
Hikvision spends a lot of time and deliberate energy in ensuring that its products proactively address the needs of our integrators and end-user customers. So each time Hikvision sets out to create a new product, a unique taskforce is formed, combining resource and product teams, and incorporating input from product users. The project spreads across departments to include the contributions of experts on image processing, video/audio codec, software and hardware structure, and the like, as well as those devoted to product innovation.
We pay significant attention to our ultimate customers to ensure that our products are designed to address their needs. Many of these solutions, tried and tested in overseas markets, should soon be able to make a strong impact for users in North America.
Which North American vertical markets does Hikvision have particular interest in and why?
As we’re revvi
ng up, we’re starting to focus on specific verticals by working with dealers and A&E firms, which will see us rapidly expanding into the upper-tier market. I can highlight our very successful involvement in education, retail, safe cities and other environments. Just recently we announced a couple of high profile success stories: one in Montreal where our equipment elevated security for students and faculty at hundreds of schools in the area. The other is in Philadelphia, where our solutions are installed in hundreds of city-owned properties, helping to create safe communities. These proved to be essential in monitoring ongoing activity and securing the city. Another good example is River Park Towers in New York City with over 4,000 residents living in 1,600 government subsidized housing units. After installing our equipment, the level of unlawful activity dropped dramatically and residents now enjoy a safe environment.
When you look what we have been able to accomplish up to this point, and remember that we only entered the North American market seven years ago, heads are clearly turning in our direction.
There is a lot of talk in the industry about what our next move is going to be. Some are even quick to identify who our competition is. The truth is we haven’t even started competing yet.
What specific imaging technology just emerging now is the company excited about and why?
We’re excited about the solutions technology offers, not just about the technology itself. That’s why Hikvision is always on the leading edge of product innovation, whether it’s network standards, image sensors or compression chips. We were one of the earliest adopters of H.264 in the industry, and we’ll be following suit with H.265 because of the clear benefits it provides to our customers in terms of bandwidth and storage.
4K will benefit our customers as well, with additional detail and precision for a more complete and efficient solution. Our 4K cameras will incorporate 4K resolution with our Smart features, such as Region of Interest encoding, face detection, and defined intrusion zones.
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About the Author
Rodney Bosch, Senior Editor
Although Bosch’s name is quite familiar to those in the security industry, his previous experience has been in daily newspaper journalism. Prior to joining SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION in 2006, he spent 15 years with the Los Angeles Times, where he performed a wide assortment of editorial responsibilities, including feature and metro department assignments as well as content producing for latimes.com. Bosch is a graduate of California State University, Fresno with a degree in Mass Communication & Journalism. In 2007, he successfully completed the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association’s National Training School coursework to become a Certified Level I Alarm Technician.
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