Dahua showed a strong commitment to the EMEA market with an impressive stand at Security Essen in September. During the show, GIT SECURITY had the opportunity to interview Yuning Zhao, Dahua Technology’s Vice President and General Manager of Overseas Business and David Shen, General Manager Western Europe for Dahua. Both managers have just started in their new roles at Dahua and gave us their view on Dahua’s strategy and the EMEA market.

GIT SECURITY:Mr. Zhao, you have worked for Huawei Technologies before you joined Dahua. Can you give us some information about your background?
Yuning Zhao: I have worked in several roles at Huawei as a Technical Engineer, Regional Sales Manager, Regional Vice President of Sales and later as Regional President. As a Vice President I do now take care of the development of Dahua’s overseas business. It is a challenging position for me considering the global market with all the different countries around the world that have specific demands. In all the countries our focus is now more on solutions, as we want to solve the pain points of our customers’ business and develop vertical solutions with the latest technology. My background in the IT industry might help us to implement new technologies like artificial intelligence, 5G technology and cloud solutions. More and more applications improve business efficiency and costs for our customers while, at the same time, they improve security.
 
Dahua’s financial results for the first half of 2018 were positive with an overall revenue growth of 31%. What markets drive the growth?
Yuning Zhao: Most of the Markets are evolving well both on the geographical side, with an exceptional growth in certain regions like China, India and Africa for example. Around the world, we see significant growth in the vertical markets focusing on Safe City, transportation, smart retail, intelligent building technology and traffic solutions. We are more and more involved in smart city projects and other projects in the vertical markets as mentioned above and specific consumers projects.

Does the trade dispute between the US and China and the US ban for government use of China-based video surveillance technology influence the business?
Yuning Zhao: Yes, but we are trying to keep the negative effects as low as possible and we have made sure that Dahua takes cybersecurity seriously and we have therefore designated it as a top priority. We are taking a comprehensive and systemic approach to cybersecurity, with complementary and redundant safeguards that are built into the technology, as well as having implemented services and organizational practices. We are positioning ourselves as a cybersecurity leader within the video surveillance industry. For example, our IP cameras and network video recorders, were recently certified by TÜV Rheinland meeting the TÜV Rheinland 2PfG 2624/06.17 standard, a requirement derived from the GDPR regulation.

“Enabling a safer society and a smarter ­living” is the mission of your company.
What is Dahua doing to reach this goal?
Yuning Zhao: There are three main aspects I would like to discuss. The foundation of all our innovative technology is R&D. Every year we are investing 10% of our revenue into R&D. To stay on top of the development in AI, IoT, and Big Data our 6000 R&D engineers work together with advanced technology institutes and we have formed technology partnerships with leading IT companies like Intel and nvidia. Quality control is the second topic. We have invested in high-end manufacturing facilities that guarantee a faster production and adaption with a higher quality of products. Our Smart IoT Industrial Park is endowed with the latest and world-leading manufacturing equipment, a high level of automation and intelligence which is essential to satisfy the ever higher demands from clients in terms of delivery time, specialized use and quality. All this is needed for the solutions we develop together with our clients. Service and severe technical support are the third factor: Online on the first level, local on the second level, and at the headquarter on the third level.

With this in mind, what do you present at the stand here at Security Essen?
Yuning Zhao: Europe’s leading trade fair for security provides a good platform for us to showcase the latest developments in creating a more efficient, intelligent and convenient surveillance system. Featured with the theme of “AI Creates Value”, we want to demonstrate our position as a leading solution provider in the global video surveillance industry. We present innovative technologies to industry professionals, including advanced AI technology, the world-renowned HDCVI 4.0, video cloud, smart H.265+ encoding and ePOE & EoC technology. Answering to this year’s theme, AI-powered intelligent solutions is on display here including Smart Retail 2.0, Smart Logics, Safe City and Smart Residential to give visitors the full picture of Dahua Technology’s smart life initiatives.

Mr. Shen, you have been working for Dahua as a Technical Engineer and in different roles as a Sales Director. What is your view on the European market and Dahua’s position here?
David Shen: Europe is a very important market for Dahua and we have invested a lot in the last four to five years. As a result, we have seen a very good performance in this market. Generally, we are happy with our position in Europe. Building-up local teams and subsidiaries in all important countries was a milestone we have already achieved. With the headquarter in the Netherlands and the new European Supply Center in Hungary, we have taken another step forward that shows our commitment to this market. Dahua sees huge opportunities for further growth in Europe and establishing a local assembly line and logistics center is a key step to serve the market in a very competitive way.

What is your plan to further develop in the region?
David Shen: Based on the work we have done in the past years and we want to develop our long-term partnership with our partners further and deliver total solutions in all European countries. We are working together with our partners closer than ever. We react on customer feedback and add more resources on the technical support and service side to develop this market.

You have mentioned the important role of partners for Dahua. What are you going to do to strengthen the support for them?
Yuning Zhao: During the next days, we have a series of partner meetings here in Essen to listen to our partners and develop plans for the future together.

David Shen: Here at Security Essen 2018, we are launching the Dahua Integration Partner Program (DIPP), aiming to extend the collaboration with 3rd party partners in technology integration and business development. DIPP focuses on creating comprehensive and integrated solutions with 3rd party partners for a wider customer and end-user base. Featuring three partner levels – Strategic Partner, Golden Partner and Silver Partner – we want to ensure that our partners enjoy multiple benefits from our global technology network. Partners who specialize in Video Management Software, Access Control System, Video Analytics, Physical Security Information Management, Alarm Systems and Cloud-based Services are most welcome to join the program. We will make sure that DIPP benefits partners on both, the technical and the business sides, including in-depth marketing, project and technical support. The key is that Dahua ensures considerable benefits at projects, including end-to-end support, opportunities for projects pipelines sharing and product recommendation.