Subscriber Discussion

Dahua International Expansion

LM
Luke Maslen
•Jan 18, 2015
IPVMU Certified

In Australia, Dahua has announced an exclusive distributor of their Dahua-branded products. You can read the PDF press release on the distributor's website at Seadan Security & Electronics dated January 16, 2015.

I believe this is highly significant as it appears to be the first such relationship with a distributor outside of China. The Australian technology market is often seen as a microcosm of what we see happening in the US market. As such, the Australian market may be used as a test ground before deploying new technology strategies more widely.

I think it is very interesting to see Dahua making this relationship with a distributor outside of China to sell and support Dahua-branded products. I'm sure this will cause anxiety amongst the multiple, existing distributors of rebranded Dahua products in Australia due to the impact this may have upon them.

What I hope this will bring to Australia is a clear and transparent supply channel where all the model numbers are kept the same as advertized on the Dahua website in China. This will make it much easier for system integrators, resellers and end-users to understand what they are getting. It should also make obtaining real support far more straightforward.

I think this is a very good move for Dahua and, if it works as well as I think it will, I think we Dahua repeat this in much bigger markets around the world.

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JH
John Honovich
•Jan 18, 2015
IPVM

Luke, thanks for sharing. Very informative!

Who are the major Dahua re-branders in Australia currently?

While I believe there are some existing Dahua branded sales in certain countries, I do agree with you that this is a signal of what may come in the US, as Australia is a similarly wealthy country where Dahua has historically depended on re-branders/OEMs.

Btw, for members, as we examined in Top Manufacturers Gaining and Losing Ground, Dahua has really been held back by the lack of direct branded sales in North America, where Hikvision has been gaining quickly in the past year.

LM
Luke Maslen
•Jan 19, 2015
IPVMU Certified
In reply to John Honovich

Who are the major Dahua re-branders in Australia currently?

Hi John, I don't know who are the major Dahua re-branders. I simply know of a few of them and suspect there are many more in Australia.

In May 2014, Dahua gave me only one name when I asked who distributed their products in Australia. It was RhinoCo Technology. I assumed they were an exclusive distributor until I attended the Security Exhibition & Conference in Melbourne in June 2014 at which I met several companies distributing Dahua products under their own brand names and model numbers. I found it terribly confusing. This confusion no doubt explained why there was such a variation in prices with the worst distributor charging x4 to x5 the price for HD-CVI cameras and DVRs compared with the same goods from online resellers in China. At that inflated price, one could buy a Samsung Wisenet III camera with true WDR and low light capabilities instead.

One of the very competitively priced re-branders is JJ SecuWatch. Another re-brander I noticed was Mainline Security Products. There were at least two others at the show but I ruled them out as not being useful for my purposes so I'm sorry I don't have any notes about them to share with IPVM.

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LM
Luke Maslen
•Jan 19, 2015
IPVMU Certified
In reply to John Honovich

Further to my last post, I had a phone conversation today with David Pettigrew, National Marketing Manager – CCTV Division of Seadan Security & Electronics. He mentioned that Seadan have been distributing Dahua products for about 3 years but under Seadan's own brand name. They have managed to convince Dahua to let them distribute the products under Dahua's brand.

How they managed to convince Dahua of that, when others have failed, I do not know. However they do have their own marketing department which I think is going to be essential in establishing the Dahua brand name in Australia. I expect Seadan's marketing department will also be able to provide the kind of critical information in English that the channel and end-users expect, and which has been lacking until now.

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RD
Roman Dabrowski
•Jan 19, 2015

There are already a few distributors in Canada, Ingram Micro being one of them.....

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Ethan Ace
•Jan 19, 2015
In reply to Roman Dabrowski

Roman, thanks. How long has Ingram been carrying Dahua in Canada? Is it a relatively recent pickup?

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Carl Lindgren
•Jan 19, 2015

I envision a Rockoff hand stirring this kettle...

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U
Undisclosed #1
•Jan 19, 2015
IPVMU Certified
In reply to Carl Lindgren

If so then it sounds like quite a business development coup for Todd; first exclusive distribution agreement outside of China. Possible prototype for further Western Expansion.

Are you sure you want to credit this to him?

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Carl Lindgren
•Jan 19, 2015
In reply to Undisclosed #1

Credit? That's probably a bit of a stretch. Probably more like he took advantage of a situation - and Todd is well known for his opportunism.

If one considers that the HDcctv Alliance has become a de facto marketing arm of Dahua, and since the Alliance is located in Australia, it would be quite a coincidence if Dahua decided to start marketing directly to the West in Australia first without at least some entity (ahem) guiding them in that direction.

It's times like these that I at least somewhat regret cancelling my membership to certain groups on LinkedIn. I would bet Todd is crowing about this turn of events. Mind you, I don't regret it enough to want to re-join those groups. LinkedIn had become tiresome, to put it mildly.

<edit> Then again, perhaps not. I found an interesting discussion on the HDcctv Alliance LinkedIn group: Four months ago, Jeff Silverman, Dahua's Business Development Manager in Los Angeles, started a discussion about Dahua attending ASIS and said they were showing some new products there. Todd posted that he wouldn't be attending this year but asked Jeff to provide updates. He did not. Todd's last post in that discussion, three months ago, was "Jeff, how was the show ?" Jeff did not reply.

LOL

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U
Undisclosed #1
•Jan 19, 2015
IPVMU Certified
In reply to Carl Lindgren

Perhaps the eponymous and opportunistic Rockoff Security with a local boot on the ground in Holgate, AU, is preparing a major Dahuan initiative.

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JH
John Honovich
•Jan 20, 2015
IPVM

Dahua is stepping up the marketing in the UK as well:

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