Axis / Canon Conflict

Axis is coming out with a dome that can use limited pan & tilt functionality for installation assistance just like the Canon model that has this. I am sure we are going to see the two lines merge, albeit slowly, probably with the Axis name eventually going away.

Canon should use it's strong brand name among consumers to move into in the low to mid-range market to be complementary where Axis is not strong.

A few reasons why Canon kept Axis and Milestones as separate entities:

1. By keeping Axis and Milestones separate, it is easy for Canon to spin them off, once Canon has fully absorbed their competitive edges in their technologies and business models;

2. Canon wants to continue to leverage the brand equity of Axis and Milestones, at least in the short term;

3. The integration between Canon and Axis was particularly difficult. I could image that at high level due to cultural difference; how many you Anglo-American-establishment whites would welcome a Japanese supervisor?

4. Expectation of Yen depreciation against US dollar. At the time Canon acquired Axis, Japanese Yen has been on a depreciation ride against the US dollars. At that time, the general market expectation was that Yen will depreciate further against the US dollars. Thus, by buying a US company at that time and selling it later at the same price, Canon will stand to make a gain;

Maybe in Japanese tradition someone or some people were expected to resign for the benefit of the company, but ended up not happening and those people are still hanging around and keeping the other brand alive.

I chose 'other' because it really doesn't matter which brand they pick. They just need to pick one. And then fuse their strength at the top end of the market and attack that full force. Maybe grab a smaller company that lets them attack the low cost SMB range and make a singular global competitor that can seriously compete with a state-run behemoth like Hikvision.

Get serious, pick a brand and get busy building a global infrastructure and keiretsu around it. What the hell is so complicated about a premise like that a few years in to a multi-billion dollar deal?

Also strange is how Canon is letting Axis enhance its own VMS...

Canon may drop their brand in this market and just promote Axis instead. because Canon is more a consumer brand, in digital camera and camcorders, rather than industry brand. Canon's huge investments in advertisement also has nothing to do with Axis in surveillance market.

It's a completely failure to use Canon brand for such industry, and it can be a success if this is just a financial investment in Axis and keep Axis to be independent, and they may grow better with Canon's financial support, sales channel support, and also lens and camera integration experience.

It looks like Canon big boss has not carefully thought before they made this acquisition.

Keep both brands and rely on their strength in different markets.

The physical product portofolio should be merged and use same familiy of components to increase volume and reduce production cost. This would also reduce their development cost significantly.

Usually in bid situations, or being evaluated for specs, especially in government, aren't there rules about disclosing ownership by an entity owning multiple entities involved in the process? Could there be a risk in a bid situation where Axis, Milestone and maybe even Canon are being evaluated for bid specs or even being offered in competing bids, where the purchaser may not be aware of the common ownership between them initially but when they find out may cause a problem for the seller/integrator......?

Do you think Axis will stay as a brand with this approach?

Canon should combine all of their technologies and child companies in the security industry to form an end to end software/hardware solution called Milecanaxis or Canaxistone

Plenty of companies have competing lines, such as Chevrolet/Buick/Cadillac, VW/Audi/Porsche, and Toyota/Lexus.

Keep Axis' high quality, price point, and presence in the IT industry. Meanwhile, hit the mid- to low-end market with the Canon product.

The Canon product line is more expensive (granted), but the quality is appreciably higher than AXIS. I think that the best of both worlds would be to amalgamate the two product into a single line with a high-end suite (Canon) and a lower end (AXIS).

In my opinion, the challenge for Canon integrating the two lines is Canon seeing themselves as a company that offers quality or best in class (cameras & lenses) even though that's not the case with security cameras. To relegate their Canon line to the "low cost offering" seems to run in opposition to the company culture. As difficult as it is to merge companies, if you picked the best people from Axis, Milestone & Canon, they might be able to develop a winning strategy and product offering.

Canon should not drop anything, that would be stupid. Instead, Canon should use it's optical / lenses experience to create a unique lucrative niche of powerful hi-zoom cameras, macro lenses cameras [what ever else cameras.. all what requires lenses beyond standards of what Axis has now] Canon then should use time-proven Axis IP-core for this unique line of cameras. This will bring a new line of customers willing to record something which was unreachable to Axis camera line.

Personally I think that everyone here is thinking like a "Westerner". As in- "Why are they not doing something right now!" The Japanese operate on a much longer business cycle. They probably have a 50+ year business plan, one year is barely scratching the surface. Emails haven't even been sent on this lol. Some guy at Canon is figuring this deal for his grand-kid...

That sounds like a joke. But I am actually serious.

Go the Hik path, provide one product line with a choice of OEM branding and give distributors / end users their choice.

If there are any technical, quality or feature advantages in the Canon range: add them to Axis then drop Canon - continuing as they are will only serve to dilute both brands and cause market confusion.

The possible ensuing conflict is greater than the sum of the parts. By entering the access control market space, AXIS has jumped into a game that they 1)lack any knowledge of; 2) lack any expertise in; 3) will position them in direct conflict with much of their existing market. In their core space, AXIS is known for high quality and high costs. In entering the access control space, AXIS is known for low quality and low price. They most likely will lean on their large and loyal retail customer to accept their product as a viable alternative only to be sorely disappointed upon deployment due to the lack of maturity of their opening product. Canon is not typically known to step into new product sectors lacking any expertise. Rather than bear the extra costs and RISKS, it seems Canon would do well to kill the internal fledgling effort with the AXIS approach to access control and maybe acquire a top rated access control provider.

It appears that a failure to address that future conflict at this stage could limit future growth prospects for AXIS. Once a customer feels the burn, the stench in the air will be AXIS's formerly good name.

In entering the access control space, AXIS is known for low quality and low price.

Really? First, I'll argue that Axis is low price in the access space. A controller still costs ~$500, when other IP-based units (ie: HID Edge EVO for one example) are at least $100 less. The accompanying reader and video intercom aren't low priced either, so I am confused.

And the low-quality statement really surprises me. In terms of hardware design, the controller units we've used are as good as what you see in the camera portfolios.

We have one of the first A1001s released in the US that we used for early testing (ie: Testing Axis Access Control) and I am actually more surprised that despite being an initial release product, there weren't major bugs or revisions.

I'm no fanboi, but we use that unit frequently. I just don't agree that it is low quality.

Not to derail the thread, but Axis didn't spontaneously enter the access market on a whim. Rumors about their entry into access were years in the making. In talking with their design team, they understood the hardware role/demands well.

The access market itself is different than video, and that may be the cause of tepid success. But then even Axis expected this: Axis Admits Access Control Expectations Low

Canon has a lot of experience with lenses and large mega-pixel imagers for consumer and commercial cameras. Can't Canon take some of this expertise and apply it to the high end and specialty camera market.

Axis produces good cameras at a reasonable price.

Canon could product special need/special application cameras at a premium price.

They wouldn't compete with each other. They could compliment each other. And then Canon could incorporate some of the Axis technology into Canon cameras without infringing on the Axis market share.

Another example of Canon's legacy video surveillance business actively marketing against Axis is in a trade mag ad this month:

Combine the two, essentially dropping the Canon branding at the higher end of the market. Axis with Canon optics, for instance. Better integration with Milestone. Using the Canon brand for a mid to low end dilutes any stature for the Canon company, so not a good plan. Launch a new line of "Axcon" cameras for the mid/low end, available with add-ons like improved Canon optics (for a price adder, of course).

So maybe the corporate strategy is to keep all the teams sharp thru mutual competition and non-linear disruption.

Red teaming taken to a whole new level.

Milestone competes against Axis for recorders and Canon competes against them for cameras.

More oars in the water might be ok if the ocean is big enough...

Canon R&D still running at full 'tilt'

Canon Europe Unveils Eight New 2MP Network Cameras At IFSEC 2016

The new range includes an outdoor 360º endless panning model with 30x optical zoom and fast autofocus, and two new fixed box “bullet” models with 20x optical zoom, a first for Canon.

All eight new models will be on display alongside the recently announced VB-H651V and Canon’s flagship low light network camera, the VB-M50B, capable of recording bright, clear images in low light conditions, particularly at the telephoto end.

I'll say right upfront; I work for Canon.

"models are not new and are already widely shipping, at least in the US"

They may be in the US, but there is a world outside the US, and they are not yet shipping in the EU. And IFSEC may call itself 'IFSEC International' it is however predominately an EU show so therefore it is news and worthy of the announcement and coverage in my personal view.

Canon