Uniview
| Industry | Video surveillance |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Hewlett-Packard video surveillance division |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Hangzhou , China |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Hermit Zhang (CEO since 2011) |
| Products | IP cameras, network video recorders |
| Owner | China TransInfo (since 2018) |
Uniview (; commonly abbreviated as UNV), formally known as Uniview Technologies and officially Zhejiang Uniview Technologies Co., Ltd., is a Chinese manufacturer specializing in video surveillance products. Established in 2005, the company is headquartered in Hangzhou. Previously, it was under the ownership and investment of the American private equity firm Bain Capital.
The firm focuses on producing surveillance hardware such as IP cameras and network video recorders. In December 2011, a Bain Capital-affiliated fund acquired the video surveillance division from Hewlett-Packard. Since 2012, Uniview has been providing "public safety" technologies to the Government of China within the Tibet Autonomous Region. The organization reported total revenues of 6.073 billion yuan in 2021.
History
Uniview began its operations in the video surveillance sector in 2005. Following its spin-off from Hewlett-Packard, it commenced independent business activities in 2011. On November 30, 2011, Hermit Zhang took over as CEO. Reports from IPVM indicate that Uniview developed software aimed at tracking Uyghurs and contributed to government standards related to ethnicity-recognition technology.
The company initiated its expansion into international markets by 2014. By 2016, Uniview's annual revenue had grown to ¥2.4 billion. In 2017, it became both a reseller and an alliance partner of Quantum Corporation. That same year, a security flaw was discovered in Uniview recorders, which was addressed through several firmware updates.
In 2018, ownership of Uniview transferred from Bain Capital to China TransInfo. During that year, Intel filed a lawsuit against Uniview in Beijing over trademark conflicts involving the phrases "intel inside" and "imos inside." While the initial verdict favored Intel, Uniview successfully overturned the decision on appeal in July 2019.
In March 2023, a bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress proposing sanctions against Uniview due to its alleged role in extensive surveillance activities targeting Uyghurs and Tibetans.