Why Do Budget Brands Seem To Offer More Features?

I though Brickcom was a midrange brand? and the Axis M10xx models are in the same price range and feature set.

At the end of the day I think most integrators do not like cameras such as this cube ones as they look a bit like toys and also look like they are easy to install and do not need the integrator to help.

The bigger the brand, the less motivated a company tends to be offering advanced features at low price. I think that basically explains the phenomenon you describe.

Bigger brand manufacturers typically bet that a sufficient number of consumers would pay the premium for those feature sets rather than go with a less known and potentially higher risk alternative (from a less established company like Brickcom, etc.).

I've noticed some thing similar when comparing Axis to Acti. Acti seems to offer a ton more models. Take these two comparison documents:

• ACTi Product Matrix
• Axis Product Matrix

Between the two Axis has 72 camera models, Acti has 92.

Of the Axis cameras 17 are PTZ's, and 4 are covert cameras. While PTZ and covert cameras are incredibly usefull when you need them - they seem more niche. Comparing the numbers of standard cameras the score is now Acti: 92, Axis: 51.

We are a big promoter of Axis, and sell quite a few of them. We have only recently started looking at the lower tier brands to try and win tighter budget products. What I can say is that the sheer number of cameras offered by Acti helps further reduce the cost, beyond just the fact they are lower cost in general. It's easier to find a skew that matches what you need. Prices ramp up gradually from low to high with Acti. With Axis, either the M30 series works or you are spending lots of money.

We have not heard back on the jobs where we have bid Acti yet (new direction for us), assuming we are awarded the work we will soon find out if we have shot ourselves in the foot by going with the lower tier brand.

The Axis / ACTi comparison is misleading.

First, I certainly agree that ACTi has an incredible number of models. However, that's not because Axis has very few, it's because ACTi recently released a huge array of new offerings. Recall just a few years ago, they had very current models leading with the weird 4MP series. Indeed, now, I am not sure if any IP camera manufacturer in the world can match the sheer number of models ACTi. Jeez, consider Avigilon, what do they have 20, 25 models, tops?

I do find it fascinating that ACTi has so many models but I also wonder if that is really going to work. It increases their cost, increases risk of bugs/problems, etc. If ACTi can handle all these models, it will definitely be an advantage for them (as you note, because it gives them very granular options).

And 24 of the ACTi models are not actually available for at least 6 months according to their website.