international outlook: asia Chinese veteran takes steps towards Europe The Chinese thermal camera and detector manufacturer Dali is standing in the shadow of giants like Hikvision and Dahua. However, Dali is the biggest manufacturer of thermal cameras in China and is expanding, not least in europe. By Henrik Söderlund Dali was established as a Chinese government test institute back in 1984, and subsequently started producing thermal cameras in 1993. Since then it has transformed into a global top five manufacturer of thermal imaging devices, with an 80 million Euro revenue. In 2008, Dali became publicly listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange. The head office is located in the city of Hangzhou, and the company today has some 600 employees, with two R&D centres – one in Shanghai and one in Hangzhou. Until 2012, Dali also manufactured DVRs, but now it is all about thermal imaging devices. Dali’s handheld, uncooled infrared FPA detector is currently the company’s best-selling product. According to Dali, the detector is suitable for thermography, security surveillance, vehicle night vision and various other applications. Dali also sells devices for maritime purposes. European Sales Manager Frank Hu says that Dali’s growth rate is about 30 per cent. Manufacturing its own detectors has been a key for growth. “Before 2009 we bought detectors from a French company and at that time our growth rate was not that great since the price was controlled by that company”, Frank Hu says. Governmental projects About half of the turnover is international sales, however, Dali is growing faster on the domestic market. “In the domestic market we are the leading manufacturer and in the world we are among the top five. Our main business is government projects in China. The main application is monitoring subway stations. It is about temperature measurement and fire detection but our products are also used for island monitoring, surveillance and perimeter protection”, Frank Hu explains. Russia is Dali’s second biggest market, but Europe in general and European Sales Manager Frank Hu says that Dali’s growth rate is about 30 per cent. Western Europe in particular, is also a big market for them. “In the European market, industrial temperature measurement equipment is what we sell most of, but security cameras are growing very fast too. Russia has had problems buying products from some European companies and therefore they turn to China. The biggest demand is for thermal cameras”. International expansion So far, Dali only has offices in China. “But we are planning to establish offices elsewhere at the right time in right place”, Frank Hu says. In China, Dali has employees in every province and they sell both directly to end customers and via distributors. Sales in Europe go through distribution channels. Dali has strong relationships with a few partners in Europe according to Frank Hu. “It makes it easier for us to explore a new market. If we want to manage 100 customers in Europe, it is much easier for us to only communicate with only a few partners, and they have a strong marketing ability”, says Frank Hu. He also stresses that Dali is looking for further partnerships and new markets. “Many European customers will not accept a Chinese brand, but the quality of Chinese products is much, much better today than before. Most of our customers brand our product with their name, but we are hoping we will be able to sell them with our brand in a few years time”. Military supplier Dali started as a governmental test institute and the connection to the Chinese government is still strong. “The Chinese government is supporting our research and development. They invest money in our project with the detector because all the components are produced in China and it can be used in homeland security projects and we are a military supplier”, Frank Hu says. Dali is the only Chinese player, that manufactures its own detector. Resolution is important There is a consolidation process going on within the security industry and this affects the thermal imaging market. “In the near future, I think many players will move away from this product because companies that have their own detector can control the market and prices, like Flir for example. Players that buy detectors from others will find it hard to survive”, Frank Hu says. According to him, the biggest trend within thermal imaging is resolution rather than the distance covered. “Today we offer 640 times 480 pixels, which is VGA resolution, but next year we will increase the resolution”. Free software Dali has developed its own software, which comes together with the hardware. In some projects, the company functions as a solution provider rather than purely a manufacturer, buying the components needed for various applications. “For some projects we offer the customer a free SDK and they can evolve their own secondary development. Different projects will need different solutions”, says Frank Hu and mentions a project in the Netherlands where thermal cameras are monitoring the temperature of railway switches, which is very important during the winter. Dali’s goal is to double the turnover within the next few years. “I think the sales will grow very fast in the near future”, Frank Hu concludes. Security News Every Day – www. securityworldhotel.com