Subscriber Discussion

Samsung Slashing IP Camera Pricing?

Undisclosed #1

02/07/14 03:59am

Our customers are reporting to us that Samsung is slashing IP cameras pricing. Steep discounts for large projects, across the board price cuts, discounts off MSRP at levels that are at unheard of levels, etc.

I am trying to determine if this is true and some sort of overall plan by their company. Any field feedback appreciated.

John Honovich

IPVM | 02/07/14 04:08am

Even without any new initiatives, their pricing is extremely low. For example, the WiseNet III box cameras we tested are about $500 online including lens (both 720p and 1080p versions) with strong low light and WDR performance (and 60fps, SD card support, bidirectional audio, p-iris support, etc.). That's a pretty low price especially for all the bells and whistles.

I don't know how aggressive they are on the dealer side. Be interested to hear.

Jim Elder

IPVMU Certified | 02/07/14 04:35am

Not a suprise to me. There camera line seems to be getting larger. They are also bringing in a line of 360 panoramic cameras and they hired a really talented guy from Axis to run the consultant's program.

Im sure they need to be watched. Hey John, i am very interested in their 360 offerings.

John Honovich

IPVM | 02/07/14 04:58am

Got a response from a few people 'in the know', confirms that Samsung is being aggressive on price, especially active in the past half year, including promotions on certain products, consistent with OP's experience.

btw, Jim, there are a ton of 360 offerings already on the market, anything in particular you find different or interesting about the Samsung one?

Avatar

Ross Vander Klok

IPVMU Certified | 02/07/14 03:19pm

Is Samsung only sold through dealers?

John Honovich

IPVM | In reply to Ross Vander Klok | 02/07/14 04:31pm

No, Samsung IP cameras are available on a number of online stores. Like most manufacturers, they also have dealers and provide them special offers / discounts, etc.

Undisclosed Manufacturer #2

In reply to John Honovich | 02/07/14 04:39pm

But they're not supposed to be officially sold through online stores, and are not supposed to support or warrant online sales.

John Honovich

IPVM | In reply to Undisclosed Manufacturer #2 | 02/07/14 04:46pm

That's good feedback. I just emailed Samsung to ask for confirmation / clarification.

Undisclosed Manufacturer #2

In reply to Undisclosed Manufacturer #2 | 02/07/14 05:59pm

I know "street prices" are mentioned here a lot. And dealers and distributers would prefer they were not for their own benefit. But I think it's also a benefit to the end user who reads IPVM if prices were disclosed as from official channels or not, and what the risk might be purchasing from unoffical sources.

I'd also be interested in IPVM doing a test purchasing a camera or DVR from an unauthorized source (some manufacturers actually list known unofficial sources that they state specifically they will not support products bought from there), and then calling the manufacturer for warranty or support and see what happens.

John Honovich

IPVM | In reply to Undisclosed Manufacturer #2 | 02/08/14 08:22am

We've called lots of manufacturer's regular support lines but never have been asked where we bought the product (or what the serial number / MAC address is). To that end, I suspect most manufacturers do not block support for products bought from unauthorized dealers. I also think it would be a dangerous customer relations move as such an action blames the customer who may have no idea who is authorized or not. If a manufacturer wants to stop unauthorized resellers, all they have to do is track which of their authorized channels are selling to them and then put pressure on that entity to block such distribution.

Alain Bolduc

In reply to John Honovich | 02/08/14 05:12pm

A good example of a company that's managed to stay on top of the distribution of it's technology and protect it's channel extremely well over the years, while keeping a leadership role in it's market even with the plethora of other ERP products that are available these days, is SAP which we were talking about earlier in the week in another thread.

They have a very stringent Professional Services Agreement that applies to anyone working with their products, wether they are customers, consultants or implementers, and they're not afraid to enforce it.

And keep in mind we're talking about software here, which should typically be much easier to pirate or copy than any piece of hardware.

John Honovich

IPVM | In reply to Alain Bolduc | 02/08/14 05:35pm

This is getting off topic of Samsung price changes. If anyone wants to discuss dealer protection / restricted sales, please start another discussion.

Alain Bolduc

In reply to John Honovich | 02/08/14 06:32pm

John - The point I was trying to make was in reference the last statement in your previous post:

"If a manufacturer wants to stop unauthorized resellers, all they have to do is track which of their authorized channels are selling to them and then put pressure on that entity to block such distribution."

That shouldn't be too difficult to do if Samsung gets a hold of cameras it believes aren't being sold through a legit source and traces them back by serial number, which does require some effort a manufacturer may or may not be willing to put money on for whatever reason.

Then again, this doesn't seem to be the case at all here if Samsung has decided to be more agressive on pricing overall for its existing models and is pushing those lower prices down through its distribution network, which is what it sounds like from one of your earlier responses:

"Samsung is being aggressive on price, especially active in the past half year, including promotions on certain products, consistent with OP's experience."

Undisclosed

02/09/14 08:59pm

I know that not all VMS support Samsung. Be careful.

John Honovich

IPVM | In reply to Undisclosed | 02/09/14 09:05pm

They certainly are behind more established brands on direct integration, which can be an issue. The new cameras do all appear to have ONVIF Profile S conformance listed.

John Honovich

IPVM | 02/14/14 03:38pm

Samsung responded to the question of online sales, noting that "Samsung maintains a strict MAP policy" and that "they do not object to online sales by authorized Samsung channel partners" but will "continue to monitor and take action against any non-authorized entity selling online and in any way suggesting that that they are an authorized dealer of Samsung."

Undisclosed Integrator #3

02/14/14 05:18pm

I haven't anything out of the ordinary from Samsung in terms of everyday pricing. I did check some prices with my distributors and there wasn't any camera super low levels like you see with Dahua, ACTi etc. Now for big camera projects, they might be sharping their pencil on prices but I cannot say for sure. I've seen Panasonic a little more aggressive but then again I think their numbers have been down. To me Samsung has always been low cost compared to the incumbents of analog or IP.

John Honovich

IPVM | In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #3 | 02/14/14 07:17pm

Samsung pricing does not match Dahua / ACTi levels but they are notable below comparable feature set cameras from Axis, Panasonic, Sony.

Undisclosed Integrator #3

02/14/14 07:24pm

I wouldn't expect Samsung to drop that low on pricing to ACTi/ Dahua levels but the original poster said the level of pricing discounts were unheard of so I checked prices to be sure and it was pretty much what I expected.

Top Comment Votes - Past 3 Months
  • 1. John Honovich - 1380
  • 2. Dwayne Cooney - 435
  • 3. Brian Rhodes - 383
  • 4. Michael Miller - 331
  • 5. Brian Karas - 316
  • 6. Andrew Myers - 305
  • 7. Marty Major - 288
  • 8. Ross Vander Klok - 183
  • 9. Ethan Ace - 175
  • 10. Matt Bischof - 157
  • 11. Lynn Harold - 156
  • 12. Shannon Davis - 140
  • 13. Greg Cortina - 117
  • 14. Hans Kahler - 110
  • 15. Scott Zuniga - 103
  • 16. Jerome Miller - 92
  • 17. Mert Karakaya - 91
  • 18. Jacob Hengel - 86
  • 19. Donald Maye - 85
  • 20. Ryan King - 84
Manufacturers
Tools

BestMatch

Design Calculator

Online Shows

Camera Finder

F-Stop Calculator

Chat

Integrator Finder

News Spider

Camera Comparison

Quizzes

Pages

About

Contact