What IP Cameras Are NOT Made In China?

JH
John Honovich
Aug 29, 2018
IPVM

A member asks:

Now here's a suggestion that I would like IPVM to take forward on every product test going forward - Country of Manufacture. It's pertinent and would hopefully focus people minds that Trumps escalating trade war with China (and the rest of the world), that will have serious implications across a broad swathe of products. My feeling is that IPVM will be reluctant as it would dilute the argument against Hikvision - so lets see. Surely there is no justifiable reason to "hide" the country of manufacture is there?

We will add the country of manufacturer for each test. That's easy.

In addition, it would be valuable to have an overall directory of what cameras are not made in China. This discussion will be used to exchange ideas and share information to put this together.

The two biggest non-Chinese made manufacturers are Axis (factories in Thailand, Eastern Europe) and Avigilon (factories in Canada and USA). Who else can be added?

 

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Jeff Kaproth
Aug 29, 2018

Digital Watchdog is manufactured in Seoul, South Korea.

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JH
John Honovich
Aug 29, 2018
IPVM

Jeff, I believe that generally is the case but there are some DW models that are not, e.g., this DW OEM of Chinese TVT.

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #1
Aug 29, 2018

Also, remember that many manufacturers have tons of models.  Not all are made in one place.  One model tested may not be indicative of the entire product line.  You can sometimes even find the same model made in different lots from different factories at different times...

Hanwha Techwin manufacturers in Korea & Vietnam.  They have a factory in China that they used to use for worldwide manufacturing, but not only use it for the Chinese market.

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JH
John Honovich
Aug 29, 2018
IPVM

Manufacturing inside of China for China is different than OEMing Chinese company products in the US (e.g., DW).

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UE
Undisclosed End User #4
Aug 30, 2018

In what way? 

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Corey Vavra
Aug 29, 2018

Arecont- still hanging in there.

https://www.arecontvision.com/marketing/contents/MadeInUSA-Compliant-Cameras-5-4-18v1.pdf

 

https://www.arecontvision.com/marketing/contents/MadeInUSA-Compliant-VMS-NVR-5-4-18v1.pdf

 

Not sure about their parent company Costar.

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Aug 29, 2018

Axis, they are made in Sweden, although they do have facilities around the world.

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JH
John Honovich
Aug 29, 2018
IPVM

Axis cameras are not made in Sweden. They are designed and developed there but made elsewhere. Related: Axis: Ends Made In China Products 2017 (Except For Domestic China Sales)

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #1
Aug 29, 2018

Maybe pictures of the label would help to remind people about where products are made, as opposed to the "designed in" location.

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UE
Undisclosed End User #4
Aug 30, 2018

But you don't get to see that before taking delivery. 

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #3
Aug 30, 2018

Geovision?  They are Taiwanese but have some low end product that may be made in China.

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Regis Glorieux
Aug 30, 2018
IPX360 Solutions

360 Vision Technology Predator and Centurion rugged HD PTZ cameras are designed and manufactured in UK 360visiontechnology.com

Made In UK

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #1
Aug 30, 2018

Made in UK, but why does that look like a flag from the USA?

Thanks for the picture from the product!

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Regis Glorieux
Aug 30, 2018
IPX360 Solutions

Is this one better... ;-)

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U
Undisclosed #5
Sep 11, 2018

It's the Union Jack also red/white/blue and they are flying it because not a whole lot gets made in the UK these days! 

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Mark Rees
Sep 11, 2018
360 Vision Technology Ltd

sadly no, but there are a few of us Brit manufacturers left !

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Mark Rees
Aug 30, 2018
360 Vision Technology Ltd

Thanks Regis

indeed, 360 Vision are proud European/UK Manufacturers - R&D, Assembly/Manufacturing, Technical Support etc all based out of our UK office

30+years of PTZ Dome camera manufacturing through 2 companies (our previous company, Video Controls Ltd (VCL) was absorbed into Honeywell via Ademco International/Pittway back in early 2000) 

84% of our product components are sourced in the UK/Europe with the remainder from credible (and equally long trading!) manufacturers from Japan, Korea and even the good old USA !

We have felt the pain of lower pricing and aggressive marketing of certain Far Eastern manufacturers, but instead of attempting to compete with lower cost manufacturing and labour costs (impossible realistically in the Western world) we simply decided to pivot into new market applications by developing new and interesting variants on the same theme

Our attention to Cyber Security has led to our product being specified for many MoD (British Defence), Critical Infrastructure, Government and Nuclear applications - we proactively partner with 3rd party technology companies to ensure end to end cyber security is a key factor to allow us to be used on such applications

WE ONLY MAKE CAMERAS! Therefore our goal is to play nicely with many of the leading, high quality VMS, including fully integrated into Genetec, Milestone and other of the quality VMS specialists

it has meant our continued growth has come from new markets and verticals - in fact, the growth has meant we could re-develop one of our original products into a cost effective, ‘entry level’ rugged PTZ (Invictus) - such that we could offer a more price conscious rugged PTZ, that whilst not as low cost as the Far Eastern competition, could be considered through specification benefits and a new 5 year warranty package - ideal for framework contracts where the usual industry mantra of ‘its so cheap buy another’ (I dread to think of landfill sites in the future with all this ‘commodity low cost throw aways’ will exist!) can actually mean that the longer term ROI is actually cheaper with our UK made, UK supported quality product

Our Predator Radar product has been shortlisted for the prestigious “Security Innovation of the Year’ awards at the forthcoming International Essen Security Show in Germany - another pride inducing moment for a UK manufacturer

i fully realise this is a reply full of back patting and self praise, but we see so many publicity topics - positive and negative - for the highly competitive Far Eastern manufacturers, that I hope the good chaps at IPVM will allow a good old British company to have a little web space for once !

And if there are any Integrators looking for alternative products for Governement applications, Regis will be happy to help I am sure !

 

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Corey Vavra
Aug 31, 2018

Oh Lordy! Who comes up with the model number designations at 360 Vision? The number almost ran off the sticker.

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Mark Rees
Aug 31, 2018
360 Vision Technology Ltd

😂🇬🇧

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Clint Hays
Aug 30, 2018

Mobotix - German 

IDIS - South Korean

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #1
Aug 30, 2018

Made in Germany or German company?

Made in South Korea, or South Korean company?

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Clint Hays
Aug 30, 2018

Mobotix devices are designed, built, and in Germany.

IDIS devices are designed and built in South Korea.

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U
Undisclosed #5
Sep 03, 2018

Manufactured in company’s own factory in Korea. And yes South Korean company but regional offices in US, UK and UAE

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #3
Aug 30, 2018

Such a sad state of affairs that there are so few.  Is India not an option for inexpensive manufacturing?  Are there no other countries competitive with China?

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David Delepine
Aug 30, 2018
Brivo • IPVMU Certified

ACTi is a non-Chinese manufacturer, but from what I understand they do source some components from China. Looking around here on IPVM they used to get a good amount of praise and spotlight. Have not seen much about them here lately though

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Dennis Eversole
Sep 04, 2018

Thanks, David:  The vast majority of ACTi products are designed and manufactured in Taiwan, with the exception of one series.  Components are sourced from Taiwan (most) and Japan (CMOS Imagers, lenses), to the maximum extent possible.

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MM
Michael Miller
Aug 30, 2018
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Jianxin Bi
Aug 30, 2018

Geovision, Vivotek, Everfocus, AV Tech and Lilin

JH
John Honovich
Aug 30, 2018
IPVM

Those are all Taiwanese companies. What we need to verify is that they are manufactured there, not in the PRC.

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Greg Sachnewycz
Sep 03, 2018
IPVMU Certified

I was told by Everfocus personnel that the cameras are designed in Taiwan and mostly manufactured in Taiwan, with only a few cameras and/or some parts made in PRC.

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #13
Sep 12, 2018

LILIN is a Taiwanese company.  LILIN IP cameras and PTZs are designed in Taiwan, manufactured in Taiwan, and made in Taiwan.  The firmware is done in house.  The SoCs we are using are from Ambarella.

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Steve Beck
Aug 30, 2018

Hanwha-  Korea & Vietnam

Though there are a couple fisheye models made in China still at this point. May be moving those too. 

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Imran Saleh
Sep 03, 2018

Some of the Siqura camera's are made in Netherland, I believe the explosion proof ones. 

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Clint Hays
Sep 04, 2018

Their traffic camera's, thermals, and unique devices are made in the Netherlands, but their security devices are an OEM.

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Carlo Kuijer
Sep 12, 2018

Dear Imran,

Sorry to inform you but Siqura is also just an OEM.  Various ODM manufacturers are relabeled/modified to the TKH - Siqura brands. 

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Undisclosed #6
Sep 03, 2018

Seems most people here believe that Taiwan is not part of China, Chinese government is not going to be happy!!

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Greg Sachnewycz
Sep 03, 2018
IPVMU Certified

PRC is slowly taking over [stealing] land in Vietnam.  Probably once successful, they will then continue into Taiwan.

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Richard Lavin
Sep 04, 2018
Salas O'Brien • IPVMU Certified

Taiwan is recognized by the US government as a TAA designated country.

https://gsa.federalschedules.com/resources/taa-designated-countries/

 

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UD
Undisclosed Distributor #7
Sep 03, 2018

+

Dynacolor, Topview - TW

Hitron - S. Korea

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Roman Roxer
Sep 03, 2018
IPVMU Certified

Avigilon 

 

 

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Tonny Frederiksen
Sep 04, 2018

MOBOTIX are made in Germany

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Niall Beazley
Sep 04, 2018

Hi Guys, Should the only question be "where is the camera made", surely the issue is the firmware of the camera? That is what provides the controlling instructions as to how the camera works and communicates. It would therefore be better to understand and know if the camera hardware that is manufactured in China, has a firmware from China that is allowing the backdoor functionality or if an American, British, Taiwanese, Korean or other software house is upgrading or replacing the firmware to block the relevant issues, thus making the sold camera a more secure device? 

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JH
John Honovich
Sep 04, 2018
IPVM

Niall, firmware is certainly important for the reason you note. We can certainly note both - where developed (truly developed, i.e., not Honeywell relabelling Dahua) and where manufactured. Thanks.

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Greg Sachnewycz
Sep 04, 2018
IPVMU Certified

What is the difference between firmware and software?

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JH
John Honovich
Sep 04, 2018
IPVM

Greg, firmware is generally the term used for a subset of software that controls devices like IP cameras or routers. Wikipedia's firmware entry discusses these aspects.

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #11
Sep 11, 2018

Malicious features can also be placed in silicon. So the origin and manufacture of the silicon is also a factor to count in when discussing these issues.

 

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Michael Votaw
Sep 04, 2018

It would appear that this issue is very complicated.  Where manufactured, where parts are made, who designed the firmware etc.  I don't think you can truly vet a camera unless you can control every single aspect of the manufacturing, right?  I can see the Hikvision issue being a Chinese company, dealing in security and being subsidized by the government, but you have to wonder how far this is going to go.

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UE
Undisclosed End User #8
Sep 04, 2018

This would be a great feature for government/defense contractors who are typically limited to hardware from TAA designated countries.

TAA Designated Countries | Trade Agreements Act (TAA)

Bosch makes most of their cameras in Portugal, but we recently found one model (the Bullet 5000 series) that is manufactured in China.

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Keith Shaver
Sep 04, 2018

Advanced Technology Video - ATV - South Korea

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #9
Sep 04, 2018

D-Link's business line and Vigilance line of cameras are made in Taiwan.

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #10
Sep 04, 2018

dont forget one of best manufactor wordwide from germany Dallmeier and GEUTEBRÜCK

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #12
Sep 11, 2018

The "Made In"-Discussion is quite complicated. Products may change the country of origin from one month to another. The country of origin just means, where the biggest part of the product value is generated (i keep it simple here, reality is more complicated). An extreme example: If the hardware is very cheap and  most of it is from China, then you let an US worker assemble the parts, then it might be a "Made in US" product in the end, because the value of the workers time is bigger than the value of the hardware parts from China. "Made in Non-China" does not mean that the product does not contain core components from China (SoC, Sensor, ICs, PCBs) which can be a theoretical source for a security problem.

As stated above, the firmware of the product is most important, because the developers of the firmware can control the communication of the product (e.g. by using firewalls internally). But...even this is very complicated. The manufacturers of the SoCs that are used inside cameras, usually provide a "reference implementation" of the firmware. Many manufacturers (maybe smaller ones) do not change many parts of the reference firmware. So in the end, maybe 98% of the firmware is provided by the SoC-Company, and just 2% (e.g. the Webinterface) is influenced by the "manufacturer". It's needless to say that these 98% could contain a lot of "secret functionality" (in theory), even if product is not "Made in China".

So, I think the country of origin of the SoC is much more important than the country of origin of the whole product.

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JH
John Honovich
Sep 11, 2018
IPVM

 The manufacturers of the SoCs that are used inside cameras, usually provide a "reference implementation" of the firmware. Many manufacturers (maybe smaller ones) do not change many parts of the reference firmware. So in the end, maybe 98% of the firmware is provided by the SoC-Company, and just 2% (e.g. the Webinterface) is influenced by the "manufacturer".

That is a good point. This directory right now is just about the place of manufacturer but SoC is certainly a major consideration as well. In particular, HiSilicon owned by Huawei is a major SoC supplier even to non-Chinese manufacturers.

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Michael Votaw
Sep 11, 2018

So can firmware be properly vetted from a security standpoint by a manufacturer using a foreign entity to manufacture and provide firmware?

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Christopher Freeman
Sep 12, 2018

Complicated question as most are not manufactured in one source

Firmware , hard coded in the chipset , like binary language , road map thru the chip

Soft is in the os of the chipset , like MS os , fully changeable , like road trip

So many manufacturers use multitude s of avenues to outsource parts of the process

you cannot really say that anything is made in one place or sourced from one place.

and most of the time there is a play on words in the msds of the products

so that being said , Where is it coming from ? , or assembled at the final pt. before shipping out thru dist.

My take is that , most use this as a ploy to sell more of thier own products

 

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Albert Lin
Sep 13, 2018
JN
JK Neal
Jun 22, 2021

Did we ever get the aforementioned list of Non-Chinese manufacturers?

JH
John Honovich
Jun 22, 2021
IPVM

JK, thanks. We did not publish a formal list but I've assigned this to Derek to get done, thanks for bumping us, we will release in the next week.

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #14
Jun 23, 2021

IDIS network cameras & recorders are designed, developed, and manufactured in South Korea as referenced by Clint and Undisclosed. The IDIS America office is located in Coppell, TX with Sales Reps covering the US. Email sales_americas@idisglobal.com for more info.

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