All about low power security camera you want to know here
Core technical indicators of low-power products
1. Power consumption. The reason why it is called low power consumption is that the power consumption indicator is the most core indicator of the product. The power consumption of the product determines the usage time. Generally, the power consumption in the dormant state (keep-alive state) is several hundred microamperes, and the power consumption in the normal working state is several hundred milliamperes. Here, hundreds are used instead, because different chip solutions and different optimization situations of the same chip by different solution providers have different corresponding power consumption. Here is just to give everyone a basic impression. Taking two 2600mAh 18650 batteries with a total of 5200mAh as an example, the product can basically be used for 3-6 months. This time needs to be determined according to the number of triggers.
2. Startup speed. As mentioned earlier, low-power products are usually in a dormant state. When the PIR is triggered or the video is previewed on the app side, the speed of device wake-up and startup is particularly important. If the startup speed is slow, the video will not start recording when the person is within the detection range. When the recording starts, the person has already walked by, and the product cannot be used. In addition, when you use the APP to actively view the video, the time it takes for the device to wake up and start can be likened to the time it takes to watch the video buffer. If you really have to wait for more than ten seconds before the video comes out, you can imagine the experience. For a detailed introduction to the startup speed, you can refer to the previous article, which has a detailed introduction in the technical section.
3. PIR false alarm rate. PIR is the “eyes” and “ears” of low-power IPC. If PIR often falsely alarms and conveys wrong information, on the one hand, it will cause the mobile APP to receive a large number of useless push notifications, and on the other hand, it will also consume power in vain. The power consumption index that has been optimized with great effort may be wasted by a few false alarm PIRs.
4. Basic requirements for conventional IPC. The essence of a low-power product is still a camera, which is used to watch videos, so the picture image effect, audio effect, cloud platform stability, APP experience, product appearance mold, etc. are all basic requirements.
5. Stability, stability, stability. Important things are said three times. It is not a skill to do well in any of the above single indicators. Comprehensive performance stability is the kingly way. Because consumers buy a finished product, not a certain functional indicator. For low-power products, I think if any of the above indicators is missing, the product is a non-mass-produced product. It is not a question of whether it is good or bad, but whether it can be used or not. Therefore, it is really not a simple thing to make a low-power product. I know that there are many low-power solution providers who invest half a year or a year in the early stage to make a solution ready for shipment (it is possible that firmware upgrades will be required in the middle). There are also many who spend millions.
Main players in the low-power market
Because low-power products are relatively difficult, the division of labor in the entire industry chain is relatively clear now. There are original manufacturers specializing in chips, solution providers specializing in solutions, board factories specializing in boards, complete machine factories specializing in assembling complete machines, and traders or brand manufacturers with marketing capabilities. Of course, some companies will also play multiple roles.
There are many manufacturers in this industry chain. Here we mainly introduce several terminal brand manufacturers. Overseas brands mainly include Ring (Amazon), Arlo (US network equipment manufacturer Netgear), Nest (Google), and Wyze, while domestic brands mainly include Reolink, Eufy, 360, and Mi Rui.
The above brands that are relatively successful in the field of low power consumption or the entire Camera field can be roughly divided into two categories. They have achieved success by relying on their own different genetic advantages. One category is to drive device sales by relying on platform advantages or software advantages, such as Ring, Nest, and 360. They all have a powerful platform behind them to provide huge traffic support. The other category is to drive device sales by relying on hardware or cost advantages, such as Wyze and Eufy. Wyze does not have its own factory. Although it is an American company, its equipment is basically produced in China. Wyze can be regarded as the overseas version of Xiaomi. It provides cost-effective products (cheap and not bad), and of course the product sales will not be too low. The above brands may occupy more than half of the low-power market share, and the brand effect is relatively concentrated. Therefore, if you want to operate a new Camera brand, you only need to enter a small part of the market to live comfortably.
How to enter the low-power IPC market
The way to get a higher input-output ratio in the short term is for professionals to do professional things and do the part they are good at first. As we said above, since low-power products still have certain technical barriers, division of labor is very important.
In addition to doing a good job of the chip itself, the chip manufacturer must also do a good job of early access to the cloud platform, because it may involve changing the chip SDK and coordinating with the cloud platform manufacturer. This part can only be done by the original manufacturer to be most efficient, and it is best to achieve a turnkey mode.
For factories with processing capabilities and supply chain advantages, the “take-it-ism” is adopted in the early stage. As long as the solution provided by the solution provider is stable and the price is appropriate, the product will be run in the market first, and when the shipment volume reaches a certain base, consider whether to do part of the research and development work in the future to improve its competitiveness.
For finished product traders and brand owners, doing a good job in ID design, product quality control, market brand promotion, and channels is basically half of the job. Of course, these things sound simple, but it is not easy to implement in practice. If it were easy, there would be successful companies everywhere. Only companies that can solve these difficult problems will have their own core capabilities and succeed.
So, in summary, I think that at this stage when the stock market is not big enough, it is most important for each participant to do what they are good at. Do one of them first, unless you have a strong backing to support you to do it all, which requires a lot of financial support and time cost.
Discussion on the operation model of low-power products
The well-known research institution Strategy Analytics pointed out in the research report “Smart Home Camera Market Analysis and Forecast – October 2021”: “Other differentiating factors other than the price of the camera are beginning to disappear, and the business model that only targets the device will become unsustainable-and this is becoming more and more obvious.” How to understand it is that you either compete on price or the difference in equipment hardware is getting smaller and smaller. More core is shifting to software applications. I agree with part of this view that software applications are a major trend in the future, but in the short term, it is still impossible to rely entirely on software advantages to gain market share.
So for low-power products in the future, in addition to making money by directly selling hardware, what other value-added services are there?
The following three directions are proposed for everyone to discuss.
1. Cloud storage sharing. Like traditional IPC, it relies on cloud storage sharing. This part is a more traditional value-added method, so I won’t introduce it in detail.
2. 4G traffic sharing. In the traditional long-term IPC market, 4G traffic sharing is also a relatively mature value-added service, but for low power consumption, 4G traffic sharing is more necessary, because low-power products themselves solve the scene of no electricity and no network. Although the WiFi version of the low-power camera solves the network problem to a certain extent, it is still limited by the use environment. If the 4G network is used, the network problem is completely solved. Of course, 4G will be more widely used in low-power products, and the income from value-added services will naturally be more.
3. Message subscription. Cloud storage and 4G traffic can be regarded as a kind of message subscription to a certain extent. Will it be possible to give away devices (or sell them at a very low price) in the future, and charge according to the number of alarm pushes or the length of video recording? In addition, there will be more and more AI applications on the device side in the future, such as package detection and baby crying detection. Such proprietary scene applications can be pushed and charged as a value-added service. Devices with AI functions are not sold for more money in hardware, but given a capability. Whether to open it is up to the consumer’s wallet.
Outlook on the development trend of low-power products
Finally, make some personal judgments and trend predictions on low-power products and the market.
1. Modularization of solutions. The market in South China competes on product diversity. Different manufacturers have a variety of molds. Although they are all doorbell products for solution providers, they may have to divide them into multiple projects, and the cost of modifying boards and verification is high. It will be a trend to make the core materials of low-power solutions into a module. Customers only need to draw the bottom board according to their own board frame. The stability of the product is guaranteed, while meeting the diverse needs of different manufacturers. Products can be quickly iterated and put into the market.
2. The variety of low-power products is becoming more and more abundant. At present, low-power products are mainly based on the core function of cameras. There are no other functions except video. In the future, low-power cameras may be used as a module on other types of equipment to make a visual fusion product, such as the Flood lights Camera (garden lights with cameras) and visual pet feeders that are already selling well. There will definitely be more fusion products that require video in the future, and these products may themselves be low-power products that use batteries, which can promote the mutual empowerment of two different products.
3. The price of finished hardware will become lower and lower. With the maturity of technology and the increase in players, it is certain that the price will become lower and lower. The price reduction is actually beneficial to the entire market. This will turn this product into a mass consumer product. On the one hand, it will promote new consumption, and on the other hand, it will cut into a part of the stock market of Changdian. At the same time, the increase in volume will also bring better negotiation space to the supply chain.
4. More and more AI applications. The application and differentiation of product hardware functions are getting smaller and smaller, but the application of AI technology will bring more variability to this product. These AI capabilities may not be the functions of a device, but may redefine a new product.
5. In the future, there will be more domestic brands competing with overseas brands such as Ring and Arlo. As mentioned above, in addition to the oligopoly brands occupying a large market share in the current low-power market, there is still a lack of influential brands in China. However, the domestic supply chain, factories, and technology companies in South China and East China are not worse than those of overseas companies. On the contrary, they still have certain advantages in products. Therefore, if you operate well and do a good job in market promotion, you still have a chance to become a good brand.
