The $3 Billion Camera Chip Manufacturer - Ambarella

By John Honovich, Published on Jun 23, 2015

A key supplier to Avigilon, Bosch, Dropcam, Hikvision and many other notable video surveillance manufacturers is in the news - first for its sky rocketing stock price and now becaue of the fierce debate on its valuation.

In this note, we examine Ambarella.

Financials ********

********* **** ****** ** 2012, ***** **** *** company's ***** *** ********* 1600%+, ******** ** $* per *****, *** ** $100 *** *****.

*** ******* *** $*+ billion ****** **************, ~** times ***** $*** ******* USD ******* ** ****. The ******* ** ****** profitable ** ~**% *** income *** *** **** revenue ****** ** ~**%.

******, ***** ********* ** down ****** * ******* in *** **** ****, since * ******** **** issued * ****** ******* their ********* '**********'. ********** / *************, that **** ****** *** of *********'* ******* ***** plays ****** *** ********. Ambarella's **** **** ***** mainstream ******** ** ***** (which ** *** * public *******, ***** $*+ ******* *********).

The ******** *******

*** **** ******* ******** of **** ******** **** is:

"*** ******* ********* ** the *** *** *** facing ********** *************** *** pricing ********, ***** ********** on *** **** *** stalls *** ******* ******** in *** **** *** is *******.... *** *** many ********* *** ******** going ** **** ***** for ** ******* *** become * ******* ********... *** influx ** *********** *****-****, low-cost ******* ********* ** put **** ******** ** suppliers. ***** **** ***** has ******* ***** ** the ** ********, *** 1080p ****** *** ****** commoditized ** ***** *****."

*** ****, ** **** thereof ** **, ** certainly * ***** ***** for *** ********. ** do *** ******* ** is ** **** **** be * ***** ****** in ******** ****** ** widespread *** **** ********.

** *** *********, **** this ****** ** ***** calling / ********** *********'* market ********* ** ** ~$1.3 ******* *** ** the *** ** **** year, ***** ***** *****, relative ** ****** *** security *************, ** * richly ****** *******.

Ambarella ** ************

** *** *** ** high *** ** *** surveillance ******, ********* *** done **** ****. ******* of *** *** ************ who ******* ***** *** chips (****, *******, ***.), Ambarella *** ****** *** 'standard' *** ****** *** cameras. **** **** **** some *********, *.*., ***** recent ** ****** (*********).

*********, *** ************ *************, do **** **** ****** forthcoming. ***** ** ********** a *** ** ******** in*.*** *** *********'* *** S3 ****** ****** ** ** significant *****. *******, ********* is *** *** ***** as * ****** ** Asian ************* *** ************** *** *.*** **** Hisilicon. *** '****' ******* to ** **** ** availability ** **** *** Hisilicon *.*** ** ******* and ********* ***** *** will ******** ******* *********** bandwidth ******* *******.

**** ******* ** ******* interest / ******** ***** who *** ******* ********* savings.**** ****** ********* ************** **** *** ******** development, ********* ** *********. However, ********* **** ** offers ***** / ******* techniques, ****** ** ******* to ** **** ***** camera ************* ****** / take ********* ** ****

Comments (8)

Undisclosed #1

IPVMU Certified | 06/23/15 06:20pm

3 billion seems high.  I can't even find them here in last year's "Yole". I'm guessing because their chips are so expensive.

How much are they are surveillance play?  Do they say? Btw, here's the "Yole" by application.  Security is the smallish Earth like planet, far left middle.

John Honovich

IPVM | In reply to Undisclosed #1 | 06/23/15 07:40pm

They are not a sensor manufacturer, ergo why you cannot find them on that chart. They produce system on a chips / encoders and partner with the Omnivisons of the world.

Undisclosed #1

IPVMU Certified | In reply to John Honovich | 06/23/15 07:49pm

That would explain it. :)

Who are their competitors? Just SonySung?

John Honovich

IPVM | In reply to Undisclosed #1 | 06/23/15 07:52pm

From their 10K:

"Our primary competitors in the wearable sports and IP security camera markets include HiSilicon Technologies Co., Ltd., Geo Semiconductor, Inc., Grain Media, Inc., Movidius Ltd., Socionext Inc., a new entity created from the merger of system LSI businesses of Fujitsu Limited and Panasonic Corporation, and Texas Instruments Incorporated, as well as vertically integrated divisions of consumer device OEMs, including Canon Inc. and Sony Corporation"

Undisclosed #1

IPVMU Certified | In reply to John Honovich | 06/23/15 09:34pm

With all the uproar about Huawei Networking equipment being controlled by the Chinese state, it's interesting there has been little or no opposition of Huawei owned HiSilicon's prominence in security cameras.

I wonder if the SOC gets to put the destination address on the packet....

John Honovich

IPVM | In reply to Undisclosed #1 | 06/23/15 09:39pm

The 'Chinese' own Omnivision too.

Undisclosed #1

IPVMU Certified | In reply to John Honovich | 08/30/15 06:53pm

This is a better chart.

Steve Mitchell

06/23/15 06:59pm

Many outside the industry still assume security is a hot growth market. They’re likely to hear that they’re a supplier to these big name security manufacturers and assume there’s growth there. From that respect I can understand (some) over-valuation.

We are all going to go to H265 eventually—even if the bandwidth savings are being over hyped. In that regard they’re ahead (for now) but will be under a lot of pressure if they can’t compete on price and when other major suppliers get on board.

Read this IPVM report for free.

This article is part of IPVM's 6,580 reports, 886 tests and is only available to members. To get a one-time preview of our work, enter your work email to access the full article.

Already a member? Login here | Join now

Related Reports

Avigilon Announces 10K / 61MP H5 Pro Camera on Oct 05, 2020
Avigilon announced its 10K / 61MP H5 Pro camera at the 2020 IPVM Fall New...
Ambarella Speaks On Huawei, Shortages, And China on Sep 09, 2020
The Huawei Hisilicon shortage is impacting the global market, with major chip...
The Booming Multi-Billion Coronavirus Fever Camera Market on Apr 21, 2020
The market for elevated body temperature detection cameras, aka 'coronavirus...
Anyvision Raises $43 Million, Focusing on Access Control And Remote Authentication on Sep 04, 2020
While Anyvision has had a tumultuous 2020 with significant layoffs, the...
Favorite Access Control Manufacturers 2020 on Sep 28, 2020
200+ Integrators told IPVM "What is your favorite access control management...
Axxon Presents VMS 4.4 and AI Behavior Analytics on May 20, 2020
AxxonSoft presented its VMS 4.4 and AI behavior analytics at the April 2020...
Video Surveillance 101 Book Released on Jul 07, 2020
IPVM's unique introduction to video surveillance series is now available as a...
Openpath Presents Two Door PoE Controller on May 21, 2020
Openpath presented its new PoE controller at the May 2020 IPVM Startups...
Favorite Access Control Credentials 2020 on Sep 15, 2020
Credential choice is more debated than ever, with hacking risk for 125kHz and...
Deep Sentinel Presents Crime Response For Business on Jun 11, 2020
Deep Sentinel presented its anti-intrusion and live response for home and...
Bosch Presents MIC 7100 Extreme PTZs on May 21, 2020
Bosch presented its MIC 7100 Extreme PTZs at the April 2020 IPVM New Products...
Verkada Raises $80 Million, Triples Valuation To $1.6 Billion on Jan 30, 2020
Verkada's rocketing valuation continues. 9 months ago, they got a...
Favorite Video Analytic Manufacturers 2020 on Feb 25, 2020
Video analytics is now as hot as ever, driven by the excitement of advancing...
Dahua Creates New Car Subsidiary as Current Electric Car Firm Struggles on Mar 19, 2020
Dahua has started a new "intelligent" car subsidiary, even as its current...
Mobotix Thermal Detection Camera Tested on Jun 09, 2020
For years Mobotix has struggled but now sales are surging driven by Mobotix's...

Recent Reports

Panasonic Presents i-PRO Cameras and Video Analytics on Oct 19, 2020
Panasonic presented its i-PRO X-Series cameras and AI video analytics at the...
Augmented Reality (AR) Cameras From Hikvision and Dahua Examined on Oct 19, 2020
Hikvision, Dahua, and other China companies are marketing augmented reality...
18 TB Video Surveillance Drives (WD and Seagate) on Oct 19, 2020
Both Seagate and Western Digital recently announced 18TB hard drives...
Watrix Gait Recognition Profile on Oct 16, 2020
Watrix is the world's only gait recognition surveillance provider IPVM has...
Intel Presents Edge-to-Cloud Ecosystem for Video Analytics on Oct 16, 2020
Intel presented its processors and software toolkit for computer vision at...
Best Manufacturer Technical Support 2020 on Oct 16, 2020
5 manufacturers stood out as providing the best technical support to ~200...
Microsoft Azure Presents Live Video Analytics on Oct 15, 2020
Microsoft Azure presented its Live Video Analytics offering at the September...
Worst Manufacturer Technical Support 2020 on Oct 15, 2020
4 manufacturers stood out as providing the worst technical support to ~200...
Clorox Announces, Then Pulls, Fever Camera on Oct 15, 2020
For almost one week, Clorox was marketing fever cameras. The booming...
Faulty Hikvision Fever Cam Setup at Mexico City Basilica and Cathedral on Oct 14, 2020
Donated Hikvision fever cameras (claiming screening of 1,800 people/min. with...
Directory of 209 "Fever" Camera Suppliers on Oct 14, 2020
This directory provides a list of "Fever" scanning thermal camera providers...
Avigilon UMD / UAD Tested on Oct 14, 2020
Avigilon's Unusual Activity Detection and Unusual Motion Detection claim to...
Longse Promoting Hikvision Partner Fullhan Chip Based Cameras on Oct 14, 2020
With Huawei HiSilicon production being shut down at TSMC, camera...
Meridian & Goodview (BEMS Relabeller) Temperature Screening Tested on Oct 13, 2020
A lot of temperature tablets look exactly alike and that is because they use...
Monitoring Alarm Systems From Home - Innovation or Danger? on Oct 13, 2020
Remote monitoring by alarm companies since COVID-19 is bringing cost savings...