Sony Security GM Is Out

Mark Collet had been GM of Sony Security System Division for nearly 4 years, coming off a 10 year stint at IBM.

What we have heard from multiple sources is that Sony Security is struggling and not making their numbers. So while we are not sure of the internal dynamics (how well was he liked / respected, etc.), we believe this was a major factor in the exit.

And regardless of how good or bad Collet was, the more fundamental challenge for Sony is that they have not kept up with the development in the industry over the past 3 or 4 years. It took them a long time to get out their most recent Generation 6 cameras, which are mostly an incremental advance over the previous Generation 5 cameras. Equally challenging, Sony's pricing on many offerings continues to go up.

At the same time, lots of competitors have improved. Avigilon, Samsung, Hikvision are all companies that have vastly improved products and American sales efforts in the time period.

We believe Sony has a lot of work to regain their competitive positioning.

Hopefully Sony will be smart enough to ride the past successes of Ken Darby who is their current National Sales Director & had reported directly to Mark Collett. Ken is very connected in this small industry and he is slowly putting what I would call a "Dream Team" of hand picked colleagues in place for Sony sales team in the Americas. I also know that Sony has come a long way since about 2-3 years ago in quality as I have seen that first hand on both sides of it. The Integrator that I have worked for 6-7 years now is one of the largest Axis Gold partners on the entire East Coast, however we have been winning more & more projects with Sony both as design Build & Spec projects as well. Ken Darby is a winner IMO & as long as Sony gives him the support he needs they will succeed!!