i-PRO APAC Oceania has today announced a separation from Panasonic i-PRO in the Oceania region, and will continue to trade as an independent entity under the i-PRO brand. Building on 60 years of experience and a reputation for high quality, the company will now move forward with a more agile, start-up mentality and bring a wider, more diverse range of products to the Oceania market.
As a new independent entity, i-PRO will accelerate the development of high technology cameras with advanced capabilities built on a platform powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the edge.
Marius Van Der Merwe will step into the role of Director for the Oceania region, building on his experience as National Security Solutions Manager for Panasonic i-PRO. The move will also see more investment in the Oceania regions with increased reserve in all states.
New Zealand operations will still be conducted by Panasonic New Zealand, providing continuity for existing customers and resellers with business to remain as usual.
Van Der Merwe states: “This is an exciting time for i-PRO in our region. It is essentially a fresh start, and an opportunity to look objectively at the business and create a more effective model. The goal is to provide high-level, reliable cameras for a wide array of scenarios at a competitive price and deliver them to the market quickly and effectively.”
The new i-PRO APAC Oceania operation will also put more resources in place to better service customers, with pre-and-post sales engineers being added across all territories. The new entity will also look to increase the number of key integrator partners operating and expand its presence in the channel.
“We acknowledge that the previous business model was sometimes cumbersome , and as such we are putting pieces in place that allow us to answer questions and deliver solutions in a timely manner, with local support. The planned opening of our own experience centre will add a lot of resources to our operations also. Customers will get the best of both worlds – the strength and reliability of our high-end cameras, now coupled with an agile local team that is responsive and flexible,” said Van Der Merwe.
“As part of this new era, we will be able to bring cameras to market faster and continue to shorten our lead time with the introduction of our Quick Delivery Service (QDS) system. Our development and supply chains are being simplified, and this will have a direct benefit to the Oceania market as we react to demand for new solutions,” concludes Van Der Merwe.
Paul Grey, Senior Product Sales Manager for Security at Panasonic NZ, said of the rebrand: “Panasonic NZ Ltd is very excited to be announced as the New Zealand distributor for the i-PRO Brand. We believe that our in-house capabilities in CCTV, software development and network technologies complement the very exciting roadmap of products that I-PRO is producing. i-PRO will allow Panasonic NZ to provide a wider range of solutions to our customers leveraging best of breed technologies while maintaining the reliability that the Panasonic Security products were renowned for.”
The i-PRO brand will have a strong focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI), with aims to lead that sector of the camera market in Oceania by making AI the new standard. i-PRO has plans to triple the number of camera releases in the current range over the next 6-12 months.
“The AI products that i-PRO are producing alongside our software development team will allow us to create new solutions for customers solving problems that previous generations of cameras have not been able to address. Although surveillance will continue to be our priority it is already clear that business intelligence, health and safety, manufacturing and other vertical markets can benefit from this new wave of technology. Panasonic NZ is committed to leading the AI transformation with the i-PRO product,” adds Grey.
