Uniview (; abbreviated as UNV), also known as Uniview Technologies, short for Zhejiang Uniview Technologies Co., Ltd., is a Chinese

video surveillance Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly tr ...

manufacturer founded in 2005, with

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

. It was founded by

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smar ...

and

3Com 3Com Corporation was an American digital electronics manufacturer best known for its computer network products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe, Howard Charney and others. Bill Krause joined as President in 1981. Metcalfe ex ...

and was once invested in and owned by American private investment firm Bain Capital. Uniview specializes in surveillance equipment, including

IP camera An Internet Protocol camera, or IP camera, is a type of digital video camera that receives control data and sends image data via an IP network. They are commonly used for surveillance, but, unlike analog closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, ...

s and

network video recorder A network video recorder (NVR) is a specialized computer system that includes a software program that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other mass storage device. An NVR contains no dedicated vi ...

s. In December 2011, its video surveillance unit was bought from

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

by a fund affiliated with

Bain Capital Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry se ...

History

Uniview became involved in the video surveillance field in 2005. After being spun off from Hewlett-Packard, it began operating independently in 2011. On November 30, 2011, Hermit Zhang became the CEO of Uniview. Uniview made its way into overseas markets in 2014. In 2016, its revenue reached ¥2.4 billion. In 2017, it became a

reseller A reseller is a company or individual (merchant) that purchases goods or services with the intention of selling them rather than consuming or using them. This is usually done for profit (but can be done at a loss). One example can be found in the ...

and alliance partner of

Quantum In physics, a quantum (plural quanta) is the minimum amount of any physical entity (physical property) involved in an interaction. The fundamental notion that a physical property can be "quantized" is referred to as "the hypothesis of quantizati ...

. In 2018, China TransInfo acquired Uniview from Bain Capital.

Controversies

In 2020, Uniview signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the

public security bureau A Public Security Bureau (PSB) () of a city or county, or Public Security Department (PSD) () of a province or autonomous region, in the People's Republic of China refers to a government office essentially acting as a police station or a local ...

Fuyun County Fuyun County () as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Koktokay County (; ; kk, كوكتوعاي اۋدانى‎), is a county situated in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

to launch an "innovation lab". In November 2020,

IPVM Internet Protocol Video Market (IPVM) is a security and surveillance industry research group and trade publication based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania that focuses on reviewing and reporting on video surveillance technology. IPVM was launched in 200 ...

alleged that Uniview had developed software designed to track

Uyghurs The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...

. Uniview responded citing its ethics code and panel and stating that it believes in "Tech for Social Good."

References

{{reflist Technology companies of China Video surveillance companies Companies based in Hangzhou Companies established in 2005