zhaoyun
04-24-2015, 08:20 PM
I think this is part of a general pattern of China moving past the first stage of industrialization (playing catch up, taking advantage of large body of cheap labor, copycatting pirated products) towards a higher rung of industrialization (more innovation, research and development, unique brands and original products). In other words, China is fast following in Japan and Korea's footsteps, moving up the economic ladder.
Who Builds the World’s Most Popular Drones?
Cheap Drones Made by China’s DJI Are Filling the Skies, Disrupting Industries and Sparking Safety Debates
By JACK NICAS and COLUM MURPHY
Nov. 10, 2014 1:54 p.m. ET
SHENZHEN, China—Big U.S. defense companies brought drones to the battlefield. Now a Chinese company is bringing them to the masses.
In just a few years, SZ DJI Technology Co. has become the world’s biggest consumer drone maker by revenue, selling thousands of its 2.8-pound, square-foot devices for about $1,000 each. In the process, it also has become the first Chinese brand to pioneer a major new global consumer-product category.
DJI’s four-propeller helicopters, called Phantoms, have become icons of the burgeoning drone era: hovering, camera-equipped robots that almost anyone can pilot. Phantoms have garnered fans for their aerial footage of extreme sports, fireworks and Niagara Falls, and famous users include the actor Jamie Foxx, Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak and homemaking entrepreneur Martha Stewart .
“The DJI Phantom series is like the Model T,” said Matt Waite, a journalism professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who studies drone issues and owns three Phantoms. “Back in the day, you could talk about cars, but pretty much every car on the road was one of these Model Ts.”
DJI on Wednesday plans to unveil a new high-end drone, called the Inspire.
The proliferation of Phantoms is disrupting industries and social norms, helping stoke debate over air safety, regulation and privacy.
An angry New Jersey resident recently blew his neighbor’s Phantom out of the sky with a shotgun, leading to criminal charges. A man bounced a Phantom off skyscrapers in Manhattan and crashed it next to a pedestrian, drawing a $2,200 fine from the Federal Aviation Administration. A Phantom provoked a brawl and halted a soccer match in the Balkans when it hovered overhead carrying a political banner.
Humanitarian groups have used Phantoms to search for survivors after earthquakes, while the militant group Islamic State has used them for surveillance in Syria, according to news reports.
And Phantoms are a top choice of entrepreneurs in the U.S. who are using drones in filmmaking, farming and construction—all in defiance of the FAA’s effective moratorium on commercial drones. The agency says it expects to propose rules governing the sector by the end of 2014. Regulations could stifle the drone industry if they are too restrictive, but industry watchers generally expect new rules to be a boon for drone makers by assuring potential customers.
DJI and other drone producers, like car makers, say they can’t ultimately control how customers use their products, but they have been adding some precautions. DJI, for example, programmed its drones to prevent users from flying them more than 985 feet high or near most airports, using GPS. It also allows users to program lower height limits to follow local regulations.
DJI is . . . fending off strong competition, including from Parrot SA of Paris and 3D Robotics—the second and third-biggest consumer-drone makers, according to industry estimates—and from Chinese rivals. Peng Bin, CEO of Guangzhou-based drone maker XAircraft, said DJI has dominated aerial photography but is unproven in other drone markets, such as agriculture or deliveries.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/who-builds-the-worlds-most-popular-drones-1415645659?KEYWORDS=drones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cKYqR9Y-3o#t=27
Who Builds the World’s Most Popular Drones?
Cheap Drones Made by China’s DJI Are Filling the Skies, Disrupting Industries and Sparking Safety Debates
By JACK NICAS and COLUM MURPHY
Nov. 10, 2014 1:54 p.m. ET
SHENZHEN, China—Big U.S. defense companies brought drones to the battlefield. Now a Chinese company is bringing them to the masses.
In just a few years, SZ DJI Technology Co. has become the world’s biggest consumer drone maker by revenue, selling thousands of its 2.8-pound, square-foot devices for about $1,000 each. In the process, it also has become the first Chinese brand to pioneer a major new global consumer-product category.
DJI’s four-propeller helicopters, called Phantoms, have become icons of the burgeoning drone era: hovering, camera-equipped robots that almost anyone can pilot. Phantoms have garnered fans for their aerial footage of extreme sports, fireworks and Niagara Falls, and famous users include the actor Jamie Foxx, Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak and homemaking entrepreneur Martha Stewart .
“The DJI Phantom series is like the Model T,” said Matt Waite, a journalism professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who studies drone issues and owns three Phantoms. “Back in the day, you could talk about cars, but pretty much every car on the road was one of these Model Ts.”
DJI on Wednesday plans to unveil a new high-end drone, called the Inspire.
The proliferation of Phantoms is disrupting industries and social norms, helping stoke debate over air safety, regulation and privacy.
An angry New Jersey resident recently blew his neighbor’s Phantom out of the sky with a shotgun, leading to criminal charges. A man bounced a Phantom off skyscrapers in Manhattan and crashed it next to a pedestrian, drawing a $2,200 fine from the Federal Aviation Administration. A Phantom provoked a brawl and halted a soccer match in the Balkans when it hovered overhead carrying a political banner.
Humanitarian groups have used Phantoms to search for survivors after earthquakes, while the militant group Islamic State has used them for surveillance in Syria, according to news reports.
And Phantoms are a top choice of entrepreneurs in the U.S. who are using drones in filmmaking, farming and construction—all in defiance of the FAA’s effective moratorium on commercial drones. The agency says it expects to propose rules governing the sector by the end of 2014. Regulations could stifle the drone industry if they are too restrictive, but industry watchers generally expect new rules to be a boon for drone makers by assuring potential customers.
DJI and other drone producers, like car makers, say they can’t ultimately control how customers use their products, but they have been adding some precautions. DJI, for example, programmed its drones to prevent users from flying them more than 985 feet high or near most airports, using GPS. It also allows users to program lower height limits to follow local regulations.
DJI is . . . fending off strong competition, including from Parrot SA of Paris and 3D Robotics—the second and third-biggest consumer-drone makers, according to industry estimates—and from Chinese rivals. Peng Bin, CEO of Guangzhou-based drone maker XAircraft, said DJI has dominated aerial photography but is unproven in other drone markets, such as agriculture or deliveries.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/who-builds-the-worlds-most-popular-drones-1415645659?KEYWORDS=drones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cKYqR9Y-3o#t=27