Koreans step into smart home, automotive, fleet vehicles, with security tech (part 2)

It has been quite obvious in the market that Korean companies are preparing for their next big move toward some new applications for video surveillance technologies. In this issue, we talked to some Korean companies ready to provide systems for fleet management and in-vehicle security and safety. Some are getting some positive results in home security and smart home systems, and from integration of IoT devices. 

The following corporate stories provide valuable examples of how Korean security companies fight for their survival and sustainability in the market.

AUTOIT seeks new partners for fleet management 

Founded in 2014, AUTOIT focuses on mobile security systems for automobiles and smart factory solutions.

AUTOIT is a professional company that develops mobile security systems for buses, taxis and heavy duty vehicles. The company provides a complete system for fleet management, both hardware and software; for the latter they have automobile central monitoring software (ACMS) for tracking services. Its ACMS can control real-time vehicle location and monitor live video streaming by using Google Maps and GPS. 

Its mobile security systems include digital video recorders (DVR), safety systems, multi-view cameras, monitors and around view monitoring systems (AVM), as well as driving assistance and safety systems designed for taxis, police cars, cash-in-transit, transit buses, trucks and fleet and school buses.

Kevin Kong, Deputy GM of the Sales Team at AUTOIT said, “Currently, we have our major customers, like truck companies, in Australia. We are also working with some big telecom companies and for government projects in Korea and other countries, such as Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. Next, we are looking for some major customers in the U.S.”

With its recent developments in ACMS and AVM systems for vehicles, AUTOIT hopes to grow substantially in this niche market.
 

GES Prepares for Growth in Asian Connected Home Market 

With IT converged technologies in embedded systems and IoT platforms, GES launched a connected home system for security and energy management.

GES, with a strong IT background, has been providing remote surveillance and security control systems for more than 10 years. GES’ product portfolio now ranges from patrol security systems, perimeter intrusion detection system (PIDSFence) to energy management system (EMS). Yong Cheol Lee, CEO of GES, said, “We have provided Korea Telecom with EMS for 14 years, KT Telecom with patrol security systems for 10 years. We install PIDSFence in chief infrastructure protections (CIP) like military sites, the official residence of ministry, satellite centers, ministry of oceans and fisheries, electric power stations and water treatment plant.”

Based on these experiences and expertise in IT converged technologies for specialized embedded systems and IoT platforms, the company has launched a new “Connected House” system. Lee said, “Based on door-entry smart home DIY system, Connected House is a connected home service for security, safety and energy saving and convenience. The wall-pad mounted system, which is combined with smartphone user-interface (UI), has expandable capabilities using IoT sensors and the IoT cloud platform, Amazon Web Service (AWS).”

According to a survey from Statista, the CAGR for worldwide growth of smart home systems in 5 years is 28.8 percent, amounting to US$43 million in 2020. GES targets the smart home market, such as single or multi houses, especially in emerging markets in Southeast Asia. Lee said, “We have found a lot of companies which are able to promote and have smart home channels through Secutech Vietnam and Thailand 2017.”

Innodep IoT-based VMS ensures full integration 

Depending on its VMS expertise in physical security, Innodep continues to explore new opportunities in IoT.

Innodep is one of the very few video management software (VMS) companies, based in Asia for physical security. Present in the market for 10 years, Innodep has provided hardware, software and installation and integration services for mainly the Korean government sector, working on such projects as city surveillance, public buildings and transportation. In recent years, the company has leveraged its experience in Korea to other Asian countries, by providing a diverse product portfolio that covers NVRs, matrixes, VMS, cloud solutions to intelligent software, such as license plate recognition and face recognition. 

Alex Shin, Overseas Sales Team Manager for Innodep, said, “In order to expand the overseas markets, we now provide the appliance, especially for the Dell OEM appliance, with preloaded VMS and we also adopt the Microsoft Azure Cloud software to develop our cloud solution, for clients.” 

What makes the company really stand out is not only its products, but its integration service. Shin highlighted, “We support our clients to ensure the full integration of the VMS with other systems. Now we have grown well in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and then China.”

Shin provided an example of a smart factory project in China, and said, “Our Korean partners there required a remote control system for the manufacturing machines. Then, we added cameras with our VMS system to it, to become a remote monitoring and control system for factories.”

For city surveillance, Shin said, “In Korea, one of our clients provided a dashboard system and integrated other information together for city monitoring. So in the video surveillance side, we provided our video data to integrate with the dashboard system. Besides video, they also captured other information and displayed the smart city dashboard together.”

Finally, the company also mentioned it tries to grow more business with integrating other connected systems in the IoT ecosystems, such as controlling the cameras on streetlights. Via partnering with more companies, Innodep expects to become an IoT-based VMS provider.
 

With video surveillance expertise, Truen enters smart home market 

Truen ventures into the smart home market as part of a new growth momentum for the company.

Seeing the strong potential of smart home systems, Truen, a long-time professional security system provider, established another business sector to focus on smart home systems. Oscar Yoon, Head of Smart Home IoT Department at Truen, said, “Besides home security cameras, now we have developed our own cloud software based on Amazon, and smart doorbells. So, we are able to provide a system for the door entry. Cameras and doorbells are well integrated and controlled by our ONE App in the smartphones.” 

To avoid the system being hacked, the company has adopted an encryption technology and master certification to access the smart camera and doorbell even someone knows ID and passwords to make sure users’ data and privacy are well protected.  

The company has mainly sold its systems to major telecoms in Europe. Next, Truen wants to seek more partnerships from Asian telecoms. In addition, Truen is also working with some insurance companies. “In some countries, installing home security systems can reduce the homeowner’s insurance, which provide the opportunity for us to work with the insurance companies,” said Yoon.

At the same time, the company prepares to sell the systems directly to end users. Yoon said, “Lately, we just launched an Igloo website to promote our camera and doorbell.” The company would like to develop its B2C business to promote its own brands and products for smart home in the future.
 

VISION HITECH looks for niche markets

Based on its video surveillance expertise, VISION HITECH prepares for its next move in niche markets.

VISION HITECH is a professional security equipment provider, with a long-term reputation in providing high quality security systems, ranging from IP cameras, HD analog cameras, NVRs/DVRs and software. With an R&D center, and manufacturing, production and assembly lines, VISION HITECH has an efficient manufacturing system, which can flexibly tailor products to customers’ specific requirements. Hee-Jun Lee, Director of the Overseas Sales Department at VISION HITECH said, “That is why the company focuses on providing security equipment to some major clients, such as major telecoms and patrol monitoring companies.”

In terms of the product differentiation, Lee said the founder of VISION HITECH is one of the first two pioneers who introduced CCD technologies to Korea. With this strong technical background, the company is proud of its video tuning and video processing capability in manufacturing CCD and CMOS video imaging equipment.

The company admitted that competition with Chinese companies is quite fierce. However, it is well prepared and has started to focus more on new and niche markets that need video surveillance equipment.
 

Wonwoo, expert of auto-focus zoom modules, continues market expansion

Wonwoo expedites its market expansion to new applications using auto-focus zoom modules and PTZ cameras.

Wonwoo Engineering, a company focused on providing high-quality auto-focus zoom modules, PTZ cameras, IR cameras and domes, is looking to expand their new customers based on the auto-focus zoom module for video products. 

The company has been in the market for nearly 22 years and has built up a close partnership with Taiwanese camera manufacturers. Now, China has replaced Taiwan as the major camera manufacturing country, which has pushed Wonwoo to actively expand its new customer base. Chris Kim, Marketing Director for Wonwoo Engineering said, “Besides Taiwan, we also try to increase our sales more from Japan, China, the U.S. and then Europe. In recent years, our sales activities have been very active in these markets.”

In addition, Wonwoo’s outlook for auto-focus zoom modules remains optimistic in the new year. Kim said, “Wonwoo currently focuses on developing half-inch CMOS sensor modules to develop our zoom modules, which can provide the best performance in the low light environment.” Besides, its major competitor announced EOL (End-of-Life) of several full HD zoom modules recently, which may bring extra sales to Wonwoo. On the other hand, Wonwoo is strengthening its manufacturing capability of one-third inch CMOS sensors to produce new sensors with higher sensitivity at the same time.

In regard to new applications for Wonwoo’s cameras, the company has recently seen a rise in demand for conference cameras, and has also won some special projects, such as cameras used in fire engines and vehicles for the army and police. With these projects, Wonwoo was able to provide most suitable camera solutions for the users.

By providing zoom modules, cameras and video solutions, Wonwoo is seeking to find more new customers who can be the best fit for its technology.