Failing at Marketing, "ALL HIKVISION PRODUCTS" On Sale

I voted No I just assume they are always on "sale"

sort of like if its a day that ends in "Y" Hikvision is on Sale

I actually received a call yesterday from a Hikvision rep out east..(I'm on the westcoast) He left a voicemail "personally notifying" me of the sale... 

But if they bought Avigilon that would look more like a failure, buying your way into a top spot (even moreso than the current approach of spending lots of money on marketing). Plus, Avigilon is not Chinese, which I think would make that approach even less palatable to Hikvision.

Also, luxury cars generally fall into that category because they have technically unnecessary upgrades (more leather, more wood grain, better stereo/entertainment system, more powerful engine, suspension upgrades). Cameras have become very commoditized, making it harder to create any kind of a true luxury brand, unless they did something like a technology trickle-down, where all new stuff comes to the luxury line first, and then the budget line 2 years later.

Either way, I do not think it would help Hikvision to dilute their focus and branding efforts across two brands that way.

Although I agree that Hikvision appears to be subsidized in a way which is absent the West, (as far as the security industry is concerned at least), and so may be operating under a cost structure that would not be profitable if adopted by Western companies, I'm not sure of what that implies for long-term strategy.

The typical motive for selling at a loss (when you are a leading manufacturer) is to drive out competitors thru drastically reduced prices only then to drastically raise prices later to a higher point  than what they were before you started.  Otherwise, even if you destroy much of the competition but cannot raise prices you are not better off.

Do you believe that Hik's endgame has them selling cameras in 2 years at higher prices than Axis did 2 years ago?  Or even at higher prices than Axis would have charged, absent Hik, two years from now.

I don't believe that the price of cameras is likely to go up, much.  Certainly I don't think they are going up enough to make back what ever they lost.

So they are giving free money away to consumers or just a good deal, but either way, from a financial perspective, there is little risk of monopolization and gouging from corner the market to the consumer.

Of course, the damage to the Western/Japanese brands is severe, but this is not uncommon in the electronics industry as a whole.

Also, these price cuts, IMHO, are no longer intended primarily at Axis et al, but rather to prevent themselves from being undercut by other up and coming Chinese brands.

tl;dr

The question is though, do you think this is a corner the market/gouge strategy by Hik, and if so do you think it could really succeed?

Thank you John for the warm comment. The US Military has outposts all over the world as I am sure you are aware. There are Hikvision cameras in Military establishments, government offices, etc. world-wide. I am a low-key (very Low-key) bit player and whatever I have or have not done is minuscule in comparison to the larger picture. It is not the end of the world that HIKVISION has manufactured a product that obviously many (as in 10's of thousands) people in the Video Industry happen to LIKE. Not end users, although many do, I mean Integrator and dealers. This is not a bitter pill to sallow, the Chinese are not stupid, they have a different way of life and if they keep making better and better products all I can say is too bad so sad for everyone that has a silly ass hang-up and cannot see that and attempts to assert political 'Razzle-Dazzle' into the discussion at every corner. I dont see anyone bitching about the damn light bulbs they are burning that come from CHINA.

Sometimes they're not even 'useful'...

I'd bet a pallet of Hik cameras he owns a MAGA hat too.

Thank you UM # 4 I am humbled by your comment.

But on the enterprise side, less of them care primarily about price and more about cybersecurity risks and the brand quality of the products they carry, etc.

In my experience, the enterprise and government customers have a pattern:

A. Some started buying top brand. Use it until EOL (and far beyond). Renew. When renewing, there are many many many factors around going again with the same brand or, at least, another top brand: such as overall experience, COSTs, the security and IT personal involved, etc.

B. If started with auto-served devices (cheap or buyed at a PC or Home-stuff store), they go rapidly with a top brand. And then enter in the pattern A.

Again, in my experience.

However, it is not all about the brand. Once they try a system backed up properly by an integrator and already experienced the other option, they try to keep working with that INTEGRATOR. But if the integrator is failing (because itself or because the products being used, i.e., the brand), the customer blames sometimes the brand, sometimes the integrator, sometimes both.

Additionally, I prefer those brands that meets higher standars in their whole operation (environmental, human rights, cyber security, economy, ethics) and not only in their products. And (again, in my experience), some enterpise/gov customers also do.

I received a call yesterday from Hikvision telling about that sale.. That was I first.

That's fascinating and also somewhat desperate to call people up to tell them about an across the board sale.

Also, can't hit quota when you spent last 4 years convincing customers buying $250 cameras to switch to $25 cameras.

Or only staff 3 of the 50 registers at peak times....

John I am curious about some of the content in the HIKVISION conversations. Do you have any information that one could use to determine exactly (or damn close) what one camera costs HIKVISION to produce AND put out to market thru distribution? I know there are many styles and so forth of course, but a general idea of a 3mp mini-dome for example? From your perspective? $5 Bucks, $15 Bucks?

I would think that knowing that cost would be important before stating a company is selling at near cost, or even "desperate" (which is laughable) as has been stated so often. It would not surprise me if many of the cameras cost <5 dollars USD for materials. You cannot ascertain that a manufacturer is not making money without factual figures before you. Politics aside, Bank Loans aside.