YI Technology, a Shanghai-based home security and action camera provider, belongs to Xiaomi Ecosystem. Its YI Home Camera made a hit in China. Currently, the company has 3.5 million active users in ten international markets.
YI Technology, a Shanghai-based home security and action camera provider, belongs to Xiaomi Ecosystem. Its YI Home Camera made a hit in China. Currently, the company has 3.5 million active users in ten international markets. The company primarily sells its cameras to consumers via the retail channels. The company is in discussions with a variety of potential partners and service providers, including telcos, solution providers, ISPs and more. Sean Da, co-founder and CEO of YI Technology told SMAhome about its product development plans and viewpoints on the smart home market.
How many home cameras have you shipped since they were launched in 2015? Could you offer the forecast number this year and next year?
Since launching the YI Home Camera in 2015, we’ve shipped more than three million units. This year, we expect to ship more than five million units, and we’re forecasting that number to double in 2017.
What are your channel management strategies? Are there different market demands in different geographic regions?
YI works with online e-commerce partners in China such as Xiaomi, JD and Tmall. For the U.S. and global markets, we work with distributors and leading retailers, including Amazon, eBay and Newegg as well as many others around the world. The YI Home Camera is more popular in China, while the YI Action Camera is more popular outside China.
YI Home Camera 2 is a revolutionary camera that provides special features like gesture recognition, baby crying detection and so on. Do you target different market segments, or do you see an increasing demand on the value-added products?
The YI Home Camera 2 has many smart video analytics capabilities and is perfect for small businesses and the higher end security market, even though our price is still very affordable. We believe that video analytics technology is the way forward for the home security camera industry, and I’m very pleased that we are offering such a great product.
How do you see the home security camera market? What are driving forces and challenges over the next few years?
Right now, a clear trend in the home security market is home automation, driven by higher resolution, more connected devices and smarter features. Making automation easy and accessible for all users continues to be a challenge for the entire industry. We feel that our offerings, with the YI Home app, product specs, ease of use and affordable pricing, are a big step in the right direction.
Will YI Technology introduce other smart home devices like doorbell camera and sensors, or just focus on video surveillance products?
We plan to expand our smart home devices beyond cameras, because we see a wide range of products on the market, like doorbell cams and sensors, that are still too hard to use and too expensive to be appealing to everyone. We see it as our mission to remedy this issue.
Product Adopted:Residential Security