Longse delivers new batch of high-resolution cameras

	Longse’s manufacturing facility

The supplier is capitalizing on its partnership with Sony to create price-competitive CCTV solutions.

Established in 2003, Longse Electronics Ltd is a professional manufacturer of CCTV surveillance products, including cameras, DVRs, lenses and accessories. It launched in July a series of 650 TVL cameras, which is now being mass-produced. The models adopt CCD sensors from Sony and RJ10 DSPs from South Korea companies, enabling Sens-up, 3D-DNR and video alarm.

In an interview with Global Sources, export manager Vicky Zhou talks about the company’s R&D, export and overall plans in the next three years.

We continue to monitor the R&D activities and market positioning of industry leaders in our field, particularly Sony. As we work in partnership with them, we benefit from their progress through technical support and component supply. Our company was among the first to introduce CCTV cameras with 600 TVL resolution based on Sony’s solution. We produce about 30,000 sets of such models each month.

We prefer, however, to design devices that buyers actually require. Our upcoming releases will include a series of constant-speed dome cameras, and 600 and 650 TVL variants with enhanced cosmetics and circuitry.

We ship more than 95 percent of output overseas. Most are delivered to North America, Western Europe and Southeast Asia. We sell mainly through local distributors as we hope to learn more about the domestic market from them. Sometimes, if the business climate is appropriate, we set up our own branch offices in the area. Such is the case with Poland, South Africa and Thailand.

In addition to our usual customers, we regularly pursue new clients and markets. To this end, we participate in global trade shows yearly in the US, Germany, the UK, Hong Kong and India. South America and Eastern Europe show considerable market potential and we are keen on widening our presence there. We have made some adjustments that suit those places. For instance, we set up a transfer station in Miami to circumvent the high tariff rates in South America, and studied customs formalities to facilitate deliveries to Russia.

We are a large CCTV company with ample manufacturing, new product development and QC capability. In 2010, we achieved $38.5 million in sales. Most of our processes are done in-house, which makes quality management better. We have more than 20 QC specialists who implement strict standards in appearance inspection, and vibration, aging and electrical tests. We likewise have a 12-man R&D team that handles structure, circuit and software development, as well as sales support. It comes up with one to three new models every month.

We are not directly affected by increasing manufacturing outlay and the yuan appreciation. In fact, we have managed to keep our prices low even with these challenges. This is because volume production helps us maintain control over expenses in the long term. Sourcing CCDs from Sony is another reason that we are able to maintain quotes. Moreover, we strive to develop new products as often as possible to avoid price wars with our competitors.

Longse will continue to provide CCTV surveillance products that balance quality and price. We will remain focused on overseas markets, but will expand our buyer base in China gradually. We believe this will improve our competitiveness further, and export destinations can benefit from this strategy. We can accumulate experience from domestic projects and put it to good use in developing export solutions. Market expansion will also help reduce manufacturing costs. In the next three to five years, we are planning to go into public listing.

Longse manufactures up to 220,000 sets of CCTV cameras each month in a 10,000sqm factory in Guangdong province. The facility is equipped with four SMT lines and a camera housing workshop. The supplier has 600 full-time employees.

For more information on Longse, visit www.globalsources.com/longse.co.