Is Axis Huge Assortment Of Cameras Good Or Bad?
Today, Axis announced 10 new cameras. In December, they released 9 new PTZs. In between, there was a couple of others as well.
Their product selector shows 115 network cameras (excluding of course, ones announced in the last few months). That might be 2x more than anyone else.
I am curious what you think the pros and cons of this are?
A few initial thoughts
- Good - lots of options means finding just the right feature sets for your needs, paying just for the ones you want; also harder for smaller competitors to match as they don't have the scale to maintain that many
- Bad - hard to keep track and figure out which one to choice (overload), can be costly for them to support so many options as well
What do you think? Vote:
While I think an array of options is useful, with Axis, so many of them seem to be similar and yet Axis still is increasingly cost uncompetitive for budget / low end applications.
IPVMU Certified | 03/26/14 11:43am
A wide selections is attractive, but in an increasingly cost competitive market it has to be more costly for them and therefore end users also. When you're a top tier well branded product you can get away with it longer than most, but for how long.
03/26/14 01:50pm
Until someone invents a one-size-fits-all camera, choice is good. In fact, I am more likely to recommend an Axis product because they usually have a product that solves a problem or fits a niche. If I want an ONVIF compliant 720P dome camera with a wide angle lens and WDR, I have a hundred cameras to choose from. If I need a discrete weatherproof PTZ camera that supports edge recording and has a long zoom and WDR and is pretty vandal resistant and also isn't too expensive, I have the P5414-E.
Too many models? As entrepreneur and marketing guru Marlo Stanfield once said, "Sounds like one of them good problems".
03/26/14 02:00pm
I think a wide selection is a good thing - customers have a wide variety of requirements and Axis seems to have the selection of cameras to suit just about any application.
A number of Asian manufacturers also has a vast selection: ACTi has 185 models on their product selector website !
In the end, I would think that most integrators would select a small portion of the available cameras and always quote the same models...
Mark, thanks, good example with ACTi!
Here's a one page thumbail directory of every ACTi camera - take a look.
I am totally lost when it comes to figuring out which ACTi camera is which and confused of why they need or would want to have that many cameras. Is there really sufficient differentiation to justify that many models?
| 03/26/14 03:56pm
I have no idea why ACTi has so many models either. This is one example where the broad selection is truly confusing - that link you provided has 223 models!
I'm totally fine with companies like Axis and Bosch having lots cameras options. Usually having more options is good. They can be competitive in most areas of the markets. However, a company like ACTi I'm not sure if having a huge lineup is the best course of action for them. ACTi should just be mass producing 20~25 models instead of having 200 different models. We choose them for price they bring to the table but I would quote more if they had more their cameras on the shelves. Axis has an advantage of having stock of so many different models The distributors are only stocking a few of each kind of ACTi camera so it's closer to a "build to order" with ACTi right now. It takes a couple weeks to get in a order of if no-one has that particular camera you want.
Let me help you on the ACTi parts numbers since I get lost with them too. It's super easy to mess up an order so you have to be extra careful. D series doesn't have any WDR at all. The E series does have WDR and you can project price those puppies. Numbers 11~19 are cube cameras. Numbers 20~29 are box cameras. Bullet Cameras are 30~50. Mini Dome cameras are 51~99 (not counting the B series) The *1~5 but are typically your 1MP to 3MP with a fixed lens but that’s not always the case. *7~9 sometimes are varfifocal or a 10MP. What I todl you doesn't apply to the "B" or the "I" series. To save time and confusion, I just stick with a couple of their models and ignore the other 200 models.
| 03/27/14 05:10pm
You get out of here, with your logic and your reasonable attitude.
The vast selection is one of the many reasons AXIS is our standard. They always have a camera that suits our needs. Also “hard to keep track and figure out which one to choice (overload)”? (First change that to choose from choice) The product selector could not be any easier or straight forward to use which cuts down on the overload. In fact it is specifically made so you don’t get overloaded. If you know what you are looking for or even if you are just kind of hunting for what could be the right thing this tool works great. Of course that could be because I have used it for so long I am so used to it?
IPVMU Certified | 03/26/14 03:19pm
I've always taken product selectors with a grain of salt. I may use them once on awhile, but I'll double check them. Reason being, there's always a possibily they program the product advisor to promote one model higher (more expensive) than what you really need. Which would be easy to do if you have a lot of products that overlap to a certain degree.
We don't deal in Axis so this should not be taken a commentary on Axis, but I've seen in a few times, mostly in the IT realm with some brand name and providers.
You should take a peek at AXIS' selector Luis. It is driven by what you need the camera to do and the attributes you are after. Nothing more. Again though, I use it all the time so it is second nature to me.
One other point. The big practical issue I have with Axis assortment of cameras is that while it has a ton of similar options in the mid to upper tier, they have few inexpensive offerings. Look at their domes - they have 30+ domes but none of them are under $250 MSRP and the outdoor versions are even way more expensive.
Maybe it was addressed and I missed it, but... before getting overly excited (one way or the other) about such extensive selection, I'd have to wonder just how much variation there is between models and what those variations comprise?
I mean, some manufacturers may offer one camera with three different lens options... another may list the same thing as three seperate camera "models". Are they considering, for example, the P3384-V (interior) and P3384-VE (exterior) as two different models, or the same model with different enclosure options?
That aside, more choice is always a plus... at least within reason.
Woow, I never knew that Walmart selling Axis cameras
03/27/14 05:45pm
Those are all third party sellers.
I pity the poor Walmart customer service agent who gets screamed at because no one told the customer the camera needed a PoE midspan to work.
Not all! One of the 3007's is right from them and you can pick it up in the store.
Newest Discussions
| Discussion | Posts | Latest |
|---|---|---|
|
Started by
John Honovich
|
6
|
less than a minute by John Honovich |
|
Started by
Steve Stowe
|
12
|
less than a minute by Undisclosed Manufacturer #4 |
|
Started by
Undisclosed Integrator #1
|
6
|
less than a minute by Undisclosed End User #3 |
|
Started by
John Honovich
|
9
|
less than a minute by John Honovich |
|
Started by
Brian Rhodes
|
8
|
less than a minute by Undisclosed #6 |
