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[[Category:Companies]]
[[Category:Companies]]
[[Category:Online Services Companies]]

Latest revision as of 17:35, 19 January 2025

Axis Communications
Basic Information
Release Year 1984
Product Type Security
In Production Yes
Official Website https://axis.com/

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Lund, Sweden, Axis is a video surveillance company with approximately 4,000 employees across more than 50 countries.[1]

Axis Companion Classic[edit | edit source]

Released in 2016,[2] Axis Companion Classic (formerly just Axis Companion) was a freely provided software for Axis account owners to be able to setup, configure, & manage cameras on the network. It also allowed a remote viewing feature for an iOS or Android Companion app to be able to view camera feeds remotely.

Removal of Remote Access Support[edit | edit source]

Axis signaled that they would be removing remote access for any new sites created after March 31, 2023.[2] Their software was updated in version 3.74.000 (released on March 15, 2023) to notify customers.[3]

When version 3.75.000 was released on March 24, 2023,[3] the only change was to prevent users from being able to enable remote access to camera feeds for new sites.

Release Notes:

Changes since 3.75.000

========================

No Secure Remote Access on new sites created after 2023-03-31.

If a consumer never updated to this or later versions, all remote access would continue to work and consumers could continue to create new sites without restriction.[2]

This restriction removes functionality without providing any benefit to the customer.

Axis Companion[edit | edit source]

As part of their efforts to upgrade software while retaining legacy setups, Axis created Axis Companion after renaming the previous Companion to Companion Classic.

Removal of Third-Party SD Card Support[edit | edit source]

Starting June 27, 2024, Axis removed support for any new device configurations in Companion with third-party SD cards.[4] This policy change effectively forces customers to purchase Axis-branded storage solutions for any new installations, while existing installations using third-party SD cards would continue to function.[4]

The company justifies this change by claiming their SD cards are optimized for surveillance applications and offer greater functionality and endurance.[5] This change also coincides with Axis' expansion of proprietary storage requirements across their product lines, including their Camera Station Edge platform which similarly mandates the use of Axis-branded SD cards.[6]

Axis SD Cards[edit | edit source]

Axis sells proprietary SD cards manufactured by SanDisk,[7] marketed under their own brand with claims of specialized optimization for surveillance applications. These cards come with a five-year warranty and are claimed to have up to six times more endurance than standard SD cards.[8]

Pricing & Market Position[edit | edit source]

As of 2025, Axis' SD cards are sold at approximately five times the price of comparable third-party SD cards[9] despite being based on standard SanDisk hardware. The company's transition to requiring these proprietary cards across their product lines creates a closed ecosystem where consumers must purchase storage solutions exclusively from Axis at premium prices.

Platform Lock-in[edit | edit source]

The requirement for Axis-branded SD cards is now being implemented across multiple Axis platforms:

  • Axis Companion (new installations after June 27, 2024)[4]
  • Camera Station Edge platform[10]

This represents a shift from open hardware compatibility to a closed ecosystem where customers have to buy Axis-branded storage at sky-high prices to maintain full functionality of their security system.

References[edit | edit source]