Subscriber Discussion

Axis Warns Sales May Be Impacted By Sony / Earthquake

KA
Konstantin Avramenko
Apr 29, 2016

The big earthquake in Japan in the middle of April this year caused damages on Sony’s sensor manufacturing plant. This could lead to limited supply of a number of Axis Communications’ network video products by the end of this year. Link

Do you think it is a real problem or it's more "buy now while the supplies last"?

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JH
John Honovich
Apr 29, 2016
IPVM

"buy now while the supplies last"

Remember, Axis is still a publicly traded company bound to disclose material events to investors.

This is coming from the CEO, not an RSM. When the CEO says this "could have effect on our sales towards the end of 2016", it is not a sales tactic, but a requirement to disclose to investors.

So, yes, I think it is a real problem. I also think this signals a real problem for Sony that Axis felt like it needed to disclose this.

Related, Sony issued their own disclosure a week or so ago, noting that factory might be closed for a month.

Thanks for sharing!

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GK
Greg Karpinsky
May 01, 2016

There was a real problem with disk drive supplies a number of years ago so I believe this is something to keep a close watch on.

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JH
John Honovich
May 01, 2016
IPVM

Greg, good point. For those, who do not recall, the 2012 Seagate hard drive Thai flood incident.

Also, Axis issued another warning in 2014 when their Thai contract manufacturer had a fire.

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Avatar
Jon Dillabaugh
May 02, 2016
Pro Focus LLC

I was coming here to remind those about the Thai HDD floods, but you beat me to it. That was hell for the computer company I worked for at the time. Prior to those floods, HDD prices usually only declined over time. We never stocked more than a weeks worth of inventory, unless we could be assured that we were buying at the absolute best price available for the next 30 days cycle.

We had a client that we resold drives to that owned a small mom and pop store in the country, but did rather well. He like the opposite method. He liked to have the same items for many months. He didn't like keeping up with trends. Rather, he like to keep the same parts stocked for a long time, regardless of price.

Just before the floods, we sold him hundreds of hard drives, which he intended on keeping him stocked for the next six months to a year. As soon as the flood hit, prices went through the roof. He ended up selling those drives for a HUGE profit. In fact, the sale of those drives bought him a new Vette.

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U
Undisclosed #1
May 14, 2016
IPVMU Certified
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UE
Undisclosed End User #2
May 19, 2016

For me this a good point for Axis, they announced that the sales will drop, but they will not try to find another supplier for their sensors, lets say from China. That means Axis is very focus on quality.

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Jon Dillabaugh
May 19, 2016
Pro Focus LLC

Lol, you didn't read the article, did you?

"We now do everything we can to limit the risks that come with a possible future shortage of sensors from Sony’s factory, for instance by looking at the possibilities of using other types of sensors in our products." - Ray Mauritsson, CEO of Axis Communications.

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U
Undisclosed #1
May 19, 2016
IPVMU Certified

As if Chinese is a "type" of sensor.

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Jon Dillabaugh
May 19, 2016
Pro Focus LLC

Are there any non-Chinese sensors, other than Sony? I honestly don't know. I think all of the popular ones are Chinese based.

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JH
John Honovich
May 19, 2016
IPVM

US manufacturer On Semiconductor owns Micron Aptina. Panasonic makes their own imagers. Omnivision is a US based imager manufacturer, now owned by a Chinese private equity firm.

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U
Undisclosed #1
May 19, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Hardly.

Omnivision is the big Chinese owned one, after that its a long way to the next Chinese one. Btw Omni was just bought by Chinese investors last year.

Besides Sony/Omni, the other big ones that I know of are Samsung, Toshiba, Panasonic, maybe Sharp makes whatever low-cost CCDs are being made of. This chart is > 1 year old, so...

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Jon Dillabaugh
May 19, 2016
Pro Focus LLC

I think I confuse sensor manufacturers and SoC manufacturers. Depending on the camera manufacturer, you sometimes get one or the other in marketing materials.

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U
Undisclosed #1
May 19, 2016
IPVMU Certified

I think I confuse sensor manufacturers and SoC manufacturers...

It happens to the best of us. :)

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SK
Sebastian Kratzke
May 20, 2016

Perhaps Canon...? =)

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JH
John Honovich
May 20, 2016
IPVM

Sebastian, lol, you are the commenter of the day!

I am not sure if Canon makes lower cost imagers. Does anyone know? I know them have high end ones but the average surveillance HD camera is probably too expensive / overkill for Canon imagers.

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SK
Sebastian Kratzke
May 20, 2016

Well, I don't know details but at least some DACH Axis representative told me, they used to use some Canon components before their acquisition.

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U
Undisclosed #1
May 20, 2016
IPVMU Certified

I believe that was from their network printing division to use with Axis network print servers.

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U
Undisclosed #1
Jun 10, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Latest Yole Sensor Rankings, Canon takes a hit

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #3
May 21, 2016

Sony sensor availability for 3MP is very tight. 2MP also very limited supplies. Manufacturers using Sony sensors will face extended delays.

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JH
John Honovich
Jul 12, 2016
IPVM

Update from Axis Q2 report, 'very limited effect':

Since Sony is a supplier to Axis, we announced that it could have a negative effect on sales towards the end of 2016. After successfully taking a number of measures, we now estimate that it should have a very limited effect on our product supply.

U
Undisclosed #1
Jul 12, 2016
IPVMU Certified

After successfully taking a number of measures...

*to reduce demand ;)

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