It’s been a long time since I wrote anything about IPC (Internet Camera), so today I’m going to talk about value-added services related to IPC products. Allowing enterprises to obtain profits other than selling product hardware.
For equipment manufacturers, everyone puts the main energy on product price, appearance, and performance, and makes cost-effective products to obtain profits from hardware sales.
With the homogenization of products and the intensification of competition, the gross profit of products has gradually decreased. For IPC products, there is a huge profit space for value-added services.
The following are the six value-added services related to IPC products that I sorted out.
01
cloud storage
Cloud storage can be said to be the most mature value-added service item for home cameras. Simply put, it uploads the recorded video of IPC to the cloud platform. First, it solves the security risk of the video stored in the SD card, and second, it solves the problem of multi-user anytime, anywhere. Pain points for viewing video remotely .
Generally speaking, most of the consumer cameras on the Internet or some offline channel cameras use event storage instead of continuous video storage. The main reason is that the cost will increase greatly and it will also occupy a large bandwidth.
1.1 Who are the vendors that provide underlying cloud storage services?
At present, the manufacturers that provide underlying cloud storage services are mainly traditional basic cloud manufacturers, including Tencent Cloud and Alibaba Cloud in China, and Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud overseas. Storage.
Of course, in addition to the above-mentioned manufacturers, companies like Huawei and Oracle that do the IaaS layer also provide related services.
1.2 Main Operation Models of Cloud Storage
Manufacturers of video cloud platforms will package cloud storage services into their own platforms as a service. Manufacturers of cloud platforms such as Tuya, Hongshi, Jiwei, Qingshi, Tianshitong, etc. will do the bottom layer with the above Vendors of cloud services negotiate quotations and do a good job in technical docking.
For B-end factories and brand owners, there is no need to pay attention to the cost of 1G storage space. They only need to know how much a device cloud storage costs for 7 days, 15 days, and 30 days.
Now cloud platform manufacturers mainly provide customers with two cloud storage operation models, one is the sharing model, and the other is the write-off model.
The sharing model is easier to understand. The cloud platform manufacturer has determined that, for example, the C-end sales price of the 7-day storage package is 10 yuan, then the B-end factories or brand owners only need to sell the products and the C-end users have purchased this cloud storage service. , Platform manufacturers will share a certain percentage of non-B-end customers from the 10 yuan, generally ranging from 20-60%.
For the different roles in the sales of B-side solution providers, factories, channel providers, and brand owners, some cloud platform manufacturers will also introduce multi-level sharing.
The advantage of the sharing model is that B-end customers can make profits just by selling goods, and they don’t need to do their own operation and promotion. The disadvantage is that the general sharing ratio is relatively limited, and brand owners cannot set their own prices.
The write-off model is that cloud platform manufacturers package a package and sell it to B-end customers at a discounted price.
For example, a cloud platform manufacturer offers C-end consumers a 7-day cloud storage package price of 10 yuan, then the same cloud platform manufacturer first sells the same package to B-end customers for 5 yuan in batches, and then B-end customers set the sales price of C-end by themselves. And run and promote it yourself.
The advantage of the write-off model is that brand owners have more room for autonomy and higher gross profit, but the disadvantage is that the initial threshold may be relatively high, and a professional value-added service operation team is required.
1.3 Several criteria for selecting a cloud storage platform
The cloud storage services provided by different cloud platform manufacturers are also very different. It is recommended to consider the following aspects comprehensively:
① Whether the docking payment platform is complete
Domestic WeChat and Alipay must be supported. If the product is sold overseas, mainstream payment channels such as PayPal, Stripe, and IPA (Apple) must also be available.
Of course, the more payment platforms are supported, the more conducive it is for consumers to purchase this service.
② Package price
Here, one needs to pay attention to whether the absolute unit price of the package is relatively low, and the other is to understand clearly what services are included in the corresponding quotation, such as the length of each recording, whether there is a limit on the number of events, etc. These are all related to user experience and will affect the ratio of cloud storage activation.
③ Popularity of App
If you use the sharing model, try to choose a well-known cloud platform, which will relatively increase the conversion of cloud storage.
④ Platform stability
This is also the most important point. Choose suitable basic cloud services for different countries. For example, Tencent and Alibaba cloud servers are most suitable for domestic and Southeast Asian regions. For overseas European and American countries, Amazon and Microsoft are definitely more suitable.
Cloud storage involves privacy and security, so we must cooperate with cloud platform manufacturers with a certain scale. Otherwise, a security incident may bring about the destruction of the entire company.
02
4G traffic is divided into
The application of 4G on cameras is increasing. On the one hand, it benefits from the improvement of basic network construction. On the other hand, it has a lot to do with the sharp drop in the price of 4G modules and data traffic.
For IPCs used outdoors, 4G solves the problem of networking very well.
4G traffic is divided into this value-added service, and the conversion rate is much higher than that of cloud storage, because cloud storage can still be viewed and played back by SD card, but 4G must be activated before it can be used.
In addition, the gross profit of 4G traffic sharing will be relatively high. As long as the cloud storage is turned on, no matter whether the user calls the cloud storage video or not, there will be cloud storage costs. However, if the consumer does not view the video in 4G, there will be no traffic generation. of.
2.1 Upstream supporting manufacturers
At present, the module manufacturers that are widely used in IPC products mainly include Quectel, Fibocom, and SIMCOM (SimCom).
Of course, the IoT card traffic resource pool is also an important link, including the IoT platform business of the three major operators, as well as countless IoT card service providers, such as North Latitude IoT and Zhongyi Information.
2.2 Some considerations for choosing a partner
① Business coverage
Regardless of whether it is a module or a traffic service provider, because the domestic network environment and supporting facilities are relatively mature, there will be no major problems.
If you go overseas, you still need to choose experienced suppliers according to the corresponding region. Overseas network operators are messy, and there are relatively many tariff standards, so the threshold is relatively high.
② Solution Provider Selection
When choosing a solution provider, we must also pay attention to the upstream supply chain information selected by the solution provider. In addition, 4G products need to spend a long time to polish the stability of the product, so we must also pay attention to the solution provider’s current implementation status and shipments, and try to avoid Don't step on the pit.
There is no specific recommended solution provider manufacturer here.
2.3 Misunderstandings in the operation of 4G value-added services
Strong binding between the machine and the card: Other methods can be used to guide consumers to use the traffic card provided by the equipment manufacturer during sales, but mandatory binding is not recommended.
Machines lose money and rely on 4G to make money: Many businesses sell machines at cost prices or below cost prices, relying on consumers to buy 4G traffic to make money. I am not very optimistic about this model. If the scale of the enterprise is large or the sales volume of equipment reaches a certain amount, this model can be operated by diluting the cost, but the premise is that it can continue to invest and persist until the end.
03
AI news subscription service
The message subscription mentioned here mainly refers to the push of AI applications. Whether algorithms are made on the device side or in the cloud, some intelligent algorithms are added, and consumers pay by purchasing new functions. This part actually has huge room for growth for manufacturers, because As long as you find a suitable smart application for the same hardware, you can continue to have new profit points after the equipment is sold.
The more common algorithms now generally include: pedestrian, vehicle, package detection, fall detection, pets, etc.
It can be seen that the number of algorithm libraries is still far from enough. In addition, the most important thing is that the experience of these algorithms is not really intelligent when they are actually used. The recognition accuracy is a very important indicator, just like ChatGPT After it comes out, people feel that this is the real AI that can be implemented. AI is not a false proposition, but it has not been achieved enough in the past.
It is also necessary to explore more algorithms for vertical scenarios, such as baby crying detection. Although the function is small, it may directly hit the pain points of some small groups of users, and this function must be used to the extreme and easy to use.
If the cloud storage and 4G data services mentioned above are regarded as inclusive value-added services, then the AI message push service is more to enhance the competitiveness of the product, which can be packaged as a functional selling point of the product, and the AI message push is free. Equipment improves gross profit. Equipment and AI value-added services can also be sold separately.
If you want to do a good job of AI functions, you need a large number of samples to train and polish the product repeatedly, so I think that only some big companies or small and sophisticated technology companies that focus on this category can do well, and it will not be possible in the short term. Suitable for factories or pure channel customers.
04
Third-party streaming media push
In addition to viewing videos on mobile phones, smart devices with screens are becoming more and more popular.
Overseas, speakers with screens from Amazon and Google, and speakers with screens from Xiaomi or Baidu in China, including central control products.
Users can directly view the IPC video or receive the message push of the video doorbell through these devices with screens, thus forming an ecological interaction.
The realization of these functions can be charged separately. Amazon and Google speakers, which are already in mature use, are good examples. Overseas consumers have fully accepted this method.
In addition to the push streaming business that has been maturely applied, whether it is possible to find more similar services is a test of the manufacturer's ability to charge by helping consumers access more products and making consumers more convenient to use.
For example, whether it is possible to link the camera with the TV to make it easier for elderly parents at home to communicate with their children far away; for example, whether it is possible to integrate an intelligent chat tool such as ChatGPT in the IPC to realize child care and the company of the elderly.
Of course, these are just some ideas I put forward at random, just a train of thought, as to whether it can be realized, it must be evaluated according to the actual situation.
I still hope that more manufacturers will find innovations in this area and build their own product barriers.
05
APP open screen advertisement
The base of the number of users is the basic element for you to make money. With users, there will naturally be traffic and income.
This doesn’t need to be explained too much, it’s easier to understand, when the number of APP users increases, you can charge through the advertisements when you open the APP, but this method may sacrifice the consumer’s sense of experience to obtain profits.
In addition to the user base, it also depends on the frequency of use of the APP. For camera products, the frequency of user use is relatively low, and the exposure of advertisements is also reduced.
So on the whole, I personally think that it is better to add the promotional page of the products you sell in the open screen advertisement. Consumers can either directly link to the mall in the APP, or jump to their own independent website, which is more cost-effective and increases product sales opportunities. .
06
insurance service
This part is mainly aimed at overseas markets, and it is not feasible according to domestic consumption habits and actual conditions.
In some overseas countries, there are specialized security service companies for homes and some commercial places, such as the American security service giant ADT. This company was founded in 1874 and has a history of nearly 160 years. It has a large number of customers in the United States.
They can provide a complete set of home security products (including video surveillance equipment, alarm equipment, monitoring services, installation and warranty, etc.), in addition to equipment sales, they also provide insurance services, customers only need to pay monthly rent That's it.
In addition to ADT, Arlo, while selling battery cameras, also launched a service plan called Arlo Secure. When an emergency occurs, firefighters, police or medical personnel can be dispatched to the location of the camera immediately. The package includes a single device at $4.49/month, unlimited devices that support 2K resolution at $13.99/month, and unlimited devices that support 4K resolution at $21.99/month. You can see that this is a very good profit growth point.
And another company called Kangaroo (Kangaroo) has also brought product value-added services to the extreme.
They used the BK chip earlier to make a low-cost doorbell that does not support active streaming or voice intercom, but only captures people after being detected by PIR, and has achieved great success overseas.
The reason is that they made subtractions from the original products, and at the same time added services such as insurance that fit the local market, which not only increased revenue, but also drove product sales.
Summarize
Among all IoT products or security products, IPC can be said to be the product with the most value-added services.
It’s just that not many people paid attention to this part of value-added services when hardware sales were growing wildly in the past. When the market becomes more transparent and competition becomes more intense, the sales method will inevitably change from rough to refined operations.
When you carefully explore some business opportunities in value-added services, you may get more surprises.
I also hope that you will pay more attention to the "Security Industry Observation" public account and forward the article.