KEDACOM, newcomer to Security 50, expands its global footprint

KEDACOM, the 2016 publicly-listed company was ranked No. 22 in Security 50, 2017. This was also the company’s first time to be listed in Security 50, conducted by a&s International annually. Different from a hardware manufacturer, KEDACOM, based in China, has been a tech-driven company since its founding in 1995. Starting in 1998, the company began dealing in IP communications, and by 2001, it had started focusing on IP video communications — it entered the IP video surveillance market in 2003. 

Looking into its technological milestones, the company released its first video management system (VMS) and IP video network codec in 2004. “Since then, KEDACOM has been engaged in advancing the IP video surveillance market in China, developing a large number of professional IP cameras. Additionally, the company launched China’s first-ever network video recorder (NVR) in 2008,” said Jacky Zhu, GM of KECACOM International.

Since 2010, KEDACOM has focused its efforts on mobile, intelligent and big data technologies. In fact, it launched China’s first-ever IP camera with an Intel chip, as well as an AI DL camera with a Qualcomm chip, AI DL mobile body worn camera and private cloud surveillance storage system — all firsts in China. 

Currently KEDACOM has 3,600 employees, of which over 1,700 are dedicated to R&D. The company’s continued investment in R&D is what keeps them at the forefront of IP video technology.

 

Strength in technology

As a tech-based company with 16 years of continuous efforts in IP video surveillance R&D, KEDACOM is not only capable of continued technology excellence in mass-produced products, but maintaining systematic technical and patent reserves.

Zhu mentioned KEDACOM’s technological strengths can be seen in their cloud computing, deep learning artificial intelligence (AI), mobile surveillance, big data storage, video and audio codec, and IP video transmission technologies. With these advanced capabilities, KEDACOM is committed to providing value-added products and innovative solutions to meet the needs of the mid-to-high end market.

 

Winning support services

KEDACOM focuses both on projects as well as distribution. Due to their product positioning, the proportion of the company’s project sector is higher than the average video surveillance company. 

In terms of distribution, Zhu said, “KEDACOM does not deal in the ‘box moving’ market. Although growth for distributors involved in the box-moving business have been decent the past few years, all-around profits have dropped. Instead, the company focuses on providing high-quality, standardized products and systems with intelligent features to small- and mid-size customers.”

Understanding that the requirements of both distributors and end users continue to get higher, KEDACOM has used their product positioning to meet these increasing demands. The company is already working with a number of distributors, which is helping to transform its business. This transformation has had an obvious positive impact on KEDACOM’s profit margin, as can be seen from shipment data from its distributors.

When it comes to high-end solutions, Zhu pointed out KEDACOM is focused on helping their partners expand in their business opportunities in three main ways:

1. Unique solutions: KEDACOM’s strength in mobile and intelligent technologies gives them the means to provide a large number competitive solutions to projects worldwide (e.g., Europe, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, and the Middle East);
2. Partnerships: Together with their partners, KEDACOM is able to deliver quality to large-scale projects, earning them a good reputation with clients;
3. Integrity: By working together, KEDACOM strives to maintain growth without undercutting its competition.

 

Expanding global footprint

KEDACOM has opted out of the analog surveillance and analog HD surveillance markets, instead choosing to focus on IP technology where it places emphasis on added-value, quality and services. As a result, the company is rarely engaged in price competition within the market. 

In terms of vertical markets, KEDACOM focuses on safe city, law enforcement, border security, intelligent transportation, intelligent education, command center, retail and industrial parks. Furthermore, through its mobile integration and intelligent solutions, KEDACOM is able to provide each vertical with tailored solutions. 
 
Globally, the company is still in the process of entering into various regional markets. Currently they have a presence in APAC, the Middle East, Russia, Europe and Africa, with North America and South America to quickly follow. 

The following are just some of the projects the company has deployed in the U.K., Singapore, Turkey, Korea, Jordan, and Thailand:

• The U.K.: The company’s mobile solutions are being used by police stations to provide long-distance monitoring and satellite-based security applications. The solution is integrated with the Milestone platform.
• Singapore: Their intelligent multi-target tracking system serves PUB and provides its customers with an intelligent unmanned, automated monitoring application for large areas.
• Turkey: Long-range PTZ cameras and backend systems provide security protection for hundreds of kilometers along the Turkish border.
• Korea: KEDACOM’s emergency monitoring system and management platform is being used by emergency call centers across multiple provinces.
• Jordan: Police stations countrywide are using KEDACOM’s body worn cameras and its full suite of management systems to protect police officers in the field.
• Thailand: Multiple provinces are using KEDACOM’s safe city solution, which includes VMS, storage, traffic cameras, license plate recognition (LPR) cameras, mobile vehicle products and body worn cameras. The solution allows users to integrate mobile and intelligent solutions from the front end to the command center, providing a comprehensive safe city solution.

Eventually, the company hopes to penetrate every market with the goal of complete globalization. KEDACOM believes that the demand for IP video surveillance will grow rapidly in both developed and developing countries, providing ample opportunity to achieve this goal. The success of KEDACOM in its existing markets gives them great confidence to continue expanding their global footprint.