In the mid-1990s, Axis Communications was well known for print servers and for a deep understanding of network applications. The potential of network video occupied the minds of the company's R&D engineers, who realised the many possibilities of image distribution over a LAN network or the Internet. The challenge was to develop a high quality camera that could easily be connected to the network.
The answer was the AXIS 200, launched in 1996. Equipped with a built-in web server, the new network camera enabled access to its pictures from any web browser in the world. The user friendly AXIS 200 soon rocked the world of video surveillance.
Axis has continually innovated over the last ten years such that today it has the market's broadest and deepest network camera product portfolio. New developments focus on solutions such as Intelligent Video as network cameras begin to take on a bigger role in defining and interpreting images before sending them into the network. The market for network cameras and video servers is now growing by 40 per cent year on year, underscoring the ongoing technology shift from analogue CCTV to IP-Surveillance.
Ray Mauritsson, president of Axis Communications commented: "Early adopters of the AXIS 200 mainly used it for their web sites but it only took a few years until the benefits within security installations became evident. Since then, network cameras have become an increasingly important feature within professional security installations. Since our launch of the world's first network camera, Axis has transformed from a company focusing on print servers into the global leader within network video. Looking at coming years, I feel very confident that we will maintain this position."
Steve Gorski, managing director of Axis Communications (UK) added: "To create the market for network video and to keep on innovating and leading the market over ten years is an impressive achievement. As a market founder, it is our responsibility to keep on educating and informing the market about the benefits of network video, and we believe the next ten years be as exciting in terms of growth and innovation as the first ten."