I wonder then, are Eastern-Europe, Taiwanese or South Korean better choices in terms of a more preferable price + security balance mix for sourcing electronic products in general and security devices in particular in the worldwide marketplace ??
- Eastern-Europe brands anyone ??: as in MicroTik routers (made in Latvia) or RUPTELA GPS (made in Lithuania), not the cheapest, but not expensive neither I think. Anyone concerned about historial geopolitical ties to mother Russia ?
- Taiwanese brands (i.e. ACTi, Synology, QNAP, AVTECH): does their U.S. friendlier/capitalist governments made them a more secure choice even though priced higher than mainland Chinese counterparts ??
- Korean brands (i.e. Samsung, LG, etc.): US-friendly government, supposedly no interference from South Korean government in their business decisions, but higher prices. But how much higher ? (has anyone done the job of comparing actually ? If yes, please share).
Discarded due to higher prices and less margin for integrators:
- Western Europe brands (i.e. Axis - Sweden; Milestone - Denmark): Not cheap.
- Japanese name brands (i.e. Panasonic, SONY, CANON, etc.): higher priced, less margin for integrator/re-seller, but aren't they made in Phillipines, Vietnam, Thailand anyway (so why the higher prices, japanese quality control) ??
Discarded due to geopolitical concerns:
- Chinese Generic OEM Brands (i.e. Shenzhen-based): cheapest but lacking in software usability, bugs, quality issues with RMA, and high defective rates, etc. Some may argue: if Chinese government could influence a big one like HIKVISION, they could certainly control any smallerOEM as well.
- HIKVISION / DAHUA (Hangzhou-based): cheap, but with potential back-door snooping from Chinese government (presumably; but commercially this is a bad choice and potential big PR disaster). Backdoors may be for legit purposes (cloud automatic firmware updates, etc.)
Just my two cents ; )