Axis Communications AB is a Swedish manufacturer of network cameras, access control, and network audio devices for the physical security and video surveillance industries. Since 2015, it operates as an independent subsidiary of Canon Inc.

History

Axis Communications was founded in 1984 by Martin Gren, Mikael Karlsson and Keith Bloodworth in Lund, Sweden. The company developed and sold protocol converters and printer interfaces for the connection of PC printers in IBM mainframe and mini-computer environments. By the end of the 1980s, Axis Communications opened its first U.S. sales office in Boston, Massachusetts and, in the early 1990s started shifting its focus away from IBM mainframes towards networking and the TCP/IP protocol. In 1991, Axis Communications introduced a multi-protocol print server supporting both TCP/IP and NetWare. In 1993, the company developed its own CPU Architecture, ETRAX CRIS, for microprocessors used in embedded devices. In 1995, the company introduced a file server independent, multi-protocol CD-ROM server, supporting TCP/IP (NFS) and Windows (SMB), for Ethernet networks, the AXIS 850. By 1995, Axis Communications opened sales offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo, Japan. Axis Communications introduced the industry's first network camera in 1996, the AXIS 200. This was followed in 1999 by the AXIS 2100 which was the first volume product using an embedded Linux. In 2003, the company introduced the AXIS 205, the smallest network camera of its time. In 2008, Axis Communications, together with Bosch and Sony, announced that the companies would cooperate to standardize the interface of network video products and form a new industry standards body called ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum). On February 10, 2015, Japanese multinational corporation Canon Inc., which specializes in the manufacture of imaging and optical products, announced a cash bid of 23.6 billion Swedish kronor (US$2.83 billion) to acquire Axis Communications. While Canon is the majority shareholder, Axis is run independently. Canon's network cameras have been sold and supported by Axis Communications in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region since September 1, 2016, and in North America since October 1, 2016. In November 2018, Axis Communications was delisted from Nasdaq Stockholm. On February 1, 2016, Axis Communications acquired Citilog, a video analytics provider for traffic and transportation security and safety applications. On April 30, 2021, Axis Communications announced that it was selling Citilog, citing challenges in finding "desired synergies because of our different go-to-market models." On May 30, Axis Communications acquired 2N Telecommunications, a provider of IP intercom systems based in the Czech Republic. On June 3, 2016, Axis Communications acquired Cognimatics, a video analytics provider for retail applications such as people counting, queue measurement and occupancy estimation. In May 2018, Axis opened a new R&D office for software development in Linköping, Sweden.

Operations

Axis Communications operates offices in more than 50 countries and employs over 3,800 people. Installations include the City of Houston, City of Dubuque, Sydney Airport, Moscow Metro, Toronto Airport, and Madrid Buses. In 2019, Axis Communications published a sustainability report stating that 80 percent of its network cameras and video encoders are PVC-free.

Technology

Products

Microprocessors

The Axis Real-Time Picture Encoder Chip (ARTPEC) is a system on a chip (SoC) developed by Axis Communications. There are currently nine generations of the chip, all of which run AXIS OS, a modified version of Linux designed for embedded devices. Not all products developed by Axis Communications use its custom chip. The chip is typically found in high-performance devices such as higher-end cameras, while lower-cost devices use SoCs from Ambarella.

Cybersecurity vulnerabilities

In October 2021, cybersecurity research firm Nozomi Networks published "three new vulnerabilities (CVE-2021-31986, CVE-2021-31987, CVE-2021-31988) affecting all Axis devices based on the embedded AXIS OS." Axis and Nozomi collaborated throughout the research and disclosure process, with Nozomi publishing a statement from Axis in its announcement of the vulnerability. To exploit these vulnerabilities, the potential adversary needs network access and administrator-level access to the Axis device. A week after their discoveries, CVE-2021-31986, CVE-2021-31987, and CVE-31998 were patched in AXIS OS 10.7, AXIS OS 2016 LTS Track 6.50.5.5, AXIS OS 2018 LTS Track 8.40.4.3, and AXIS OS 2020 LTS Track 9.80.3.5. "We thank Nozomi Networks for their research and good collaboration throughout the disclosure process. AXIS Communications welcomes researchers to inspect our devices and firmware as it is our belief that long-term sustainable cyber security is created through collaboration and transparency."