have DJI become victims of their own success

[twoheadlines]

At a price that people will pay.... that is the problem

I don't think we should be portraying ourselves as "victims" of Chinese pricing policies. Their corporate bean counters will be looking at the bottom line just the same as a US or UK manufacturer would be.
Why do US companies like Apple, Microsoft, Ford and so on, have huge manufacturing bases in China? They are interested in a bottom line which is enhanced by lower labour market factors as well as global consumer demand for a product of ever increasing quality at an ever lower price.
DJI will not be any different in their determination of what the market will accept for a given product, and the effect the market will have as a return on their investment.

 

[Meta4]

DJI a victim? How ??
They still own the ready-to-fly drone market with a better than 70% market share and still no competitor has come close to challenging them.
The other makers follow DJI's tech and come out with products to compete with what DJI released two years ago.

2019 has not been very productive for DJI no new drones on the horizon just some small upgrades to existing products.the problem i think is because the products that are available are so good,that the technological improvements that are required for the next gen drones are either to expensive or are not yet a reality.

Not releasing a new drone in four months isn't an indication of being a victim or somehow failing.
DJI have an R&D team of about 1000 so it's impossible to say they haven't been productive without knowing what's been going on at DJI labs.
They had a product release scheduled for last week but put it off.
That sounds like they had something new to release but decided to hold off to get something corrected.

 

[BigAl07]

If we have to tiptoe around China in this forum because they make these products then, moderator, please delete my account.

Huh? The person you quoted merely mentioned "this isn't a political forum". You took a fairly large leap with such a bold and inaccurate comment. I can assure you the owners and moderators on these forums have as much (if not more) Patriotism than you have any idea of.

As for tiptoeing around China or DJI we don't do that. The only thing we try to limit/control is unbased bashing of ANY brand/model/person.

They can remove me as well since I'd love to see U.S.A. get competitive and putting people to work making drones here on the homefront.

Seriously? Jump on the band wagon much? Both of the above quotes are TOTALLY out-there to say the least.

 

[Former Member]

DJI a victim? How ??
They still own the ready-to-fly drone market with a better than 70% market share and still no competitor has come close to challenging them.
The other makers follow DJI's tech and come out with products to compete with what DJI released two years ago.

Not releasing a new drone in four months isn't an indication of being a victim or somehow failing.
DJI have an R&D team of about 1000 so it's impossible to say they haven't been productive without knowing what's been going on at DJI labs.
They had a product release scheduled for last week but put it off.
That sounds like they had something new to release but decided to hold off to get something corrected.

Not releasing a new drone for 6 months for a company that used to do 2 or more a year to me is an indication that something is not right at DJI. Then there is their cryptic cancelation of the Phantom 4 pro and then cancelation of the cancelation, all from DJI employee's. What really is going on at DJI? Does anyone know? If anyone did know, DJI would not let them spread the word. Par for the course.

 

[razoraerial]

Maybe. New CEO? Or a new direction. That’s what I was thinking for the slow down. Collect the cash from current projects then light up the sky when slow down hits. I’m thinking around November huge hit. But just a thought.

 

[LowCountryFlyer]

2019 has not been very productive for DJI no new drones on the horizon just some small upgrades to existing products.the problem i think is because the products that are available are so good,that the technological improvements that are required for the next gen drones are either to expensive or are not yet a reality, and there is one big fact that all drone makers have to take into consideration,when considering new products and that is the impact that the new drone laws that are being rolled out around the world are going to have on ongoing sales of drones.i hope that DJI will continue to lead the world in drone development and at a price that the hobby consumer can afford

One issue here is the ability to utilize further growth and upgrades in the 'prosumer' drone market. It's realistically feasible for DJI to hang a 5.6K or greater camera on such a drone, but it's not terribly useful more most buyers who are either only able to view their work on a 4K monitor or TV, or are posting their work to the internet at a considerably lower resolution. Unless you're in the business of shooting major motion pictures or are a serious photographer needing exacting detail for a project or enterprise type work, there probably isn't much of a need - or a market for that matter - to advertise something with a greater capability for the average guy or gal on the street who flies drones for fun. I'd say DJI's current marketing strategy of making existing high end consumer drones more compact with more intelligent autopilot and safety features is a good one. And I also say by DJI's sales figures on the Mavic line that it's working!

Now I do know that DJI has had some serious problems with internal corruption as of late that it's fighting its way through. But that is a different story.

All that being said, it would be nice to see DJI consumer products which can shoot 4K at 60+ FPS again. And, though I've not flown one yet, my impression of the Mavic 2 Zoom from the sidelines is that it's kinda gimmicky (no offense) adding a more limited zoom feature on an inferior camera to the Mavic 2 Pro. But DJI may be able to claim otherwise and vindicate that with its quarterly financial reports.

Do you have any new suggestions for future DJI 'prosumer' products?

 

[Former Member]

Maybe. New CEO? Or a new direction. That’s what I was thinking for the slow down. Collect the cash from current projects then light up the sky when slow down hits. I’m thinking around November huge hit. But just a thought.

Maybe not too far off the mark. In the USA, if there was a $147 million dollar fraud detected, the CEO would be the first to get the axe.

 

[bobfa100]

Personally I think we give to much business to China. I'd like to see a US MFGer design and market a comparable UMA quadcopter . We need to bring more jobs home .

Autel is based here in Washington state. Their Evo is very competitive, with some specs that superlative.

 

[Former Member]

Autel is based here in Washington state. Their Evo is very competitive, with some specs that superlative.

Ive got an Evo and love it.

 

[old man mavic]

DJI a victim? How ??
They still own the ready-to-fly drone market with a better than 70% market share and still no competitor has come close to challenging them.
The other makers follow DJI's tech and come out with products to compete with what DJI released two years ago.

Not releasing a new drone in four months isn't an indication of being a victim or somehow failing.
DJI have an R&D team of about 1000 so it's impossible to say they haven't been productive without knowing what's been going on at DJI labs.
They had a product release scheduled for last week but put it off.
That sounds like they had something new to release but decided to hold off to get something corrected.

@Meta4 thanks for your input to this thread,i have great respect for your contributions to this forum along with many others i never expected my thread to stir up so much emotion,but a lot of interesting comments were expressed and lets hope that the prosumer UAV market has not peaked in 2019,and many more interesting new models are in the pipeline wherever they are made

 

[run2jeepn]

I think we all just got spoiled with the Mavic Line dumping so quick. The Pro, Air, M2P and Zoom.. Then the Smart Controller. How much time passed between the first Phantoms and Mavic Pro? I would like to see more software upgrades for the Air. Why rush to another drone when they already control the market.

Maybe the US trade Deal with China is slowing stuff down. Waiting to see how it pans out before pushing development on a new product.

I like to see a Mavic Air 2 with a 20MP or Zoom platform...


But I'm all new to this part of the RC Community. I do have years of Design and Development of RC parts thou. Most being mass produced in China too.

 

[Former Member]

@Meta4 thanks for your input to this thread,i have great respect for your contributions to this forum along with many others i never expected my thread to stir up so much emotion,but a lot of interesting comments were expressed and lets hope that the prosumer UAV market has not peaked in 2019,and many more interesting new models are in the pipeline wherever they are made

Ive got some extra nitro pills if you need them, @old man mavic . I asked the doctor to double my prescription last time so that I can keep up with the rest of the youngsters.

Nitroglycerin sublingual tablets are used just before activities that may cause episodes of angina in order to prevent the angina from occurring.

 

[MavicFT1P]

2019 has not been very productive for DJI no new drones on the horizon just some small upgrades to existing products.the problem i think is because the products that are available are so good,that the technological improvements that are required for the next gen drones are either to expensive or are not yet a reality, and there is one big fact that all drone makers have to take into consideration,when considering new products and that is the impact that the new drone laws that are being rolled out around the world are going to have on ongoing sales of drones.i hope that DJI will continue to lead the world in drone development and at a price that the hobby consumer can afford

I disagree. DJI has estalablished itself. It has identified it's customer base. It has recognized
that at least %50 of these people are apple user's, with disposable income, who will most likely
buy, even if they have mixed feelings about it, pretty much anything the company release.

Mavic PRo was awesome Because DJI needed to make a spalsh. Break away from Phantom.
They did that and the are not the same company they were in 2016.
The worst part is as of now they have NO real competition in the "SmartDrone" Niche they have carved.

It's a great bloodyniche. No disrespect, but if you respect yourself and the money you have sent their way over the years.
I think you should recognise the situation and stop feeling sorry for DJI.

Start making demands as to what Mavic 3, or their Next Great Drone's functionality should be, or trust me they will decide for you, ala XBOX Kinect Style.
You will end up like that Person on a Trains with what looks like a Tampons in their ears, convincing themselves they dont look stupid, because their a loyal customer and they were expensive.
The Chinese are good at making things. They also excel at making products JuSt good enough to
Compete

Edit: excuse the grammar edits

 

[Thomas B]

Of course if we use 12 months as a year rather than a calendar year, then both the MZ and the M2P were released “this year” since it was in the fall of 2018.
Maybe they are focusing on selling products to LEO for use in the market they helped create... makes economic sense to play both sides. Check it out;

Aeroscope - DJI

DJI AeroScope is able to identify the vast majority of popular drones on the market today by monitoring and analyzing their electronic signals to gain critical information, allowing users to protect the integrity of their flight-sensitive environment.

www.dji.com

 

[run2jeepn]

Of course if we use 12 months as a year rather than a calendar year, then both the MZ and the M2P were released “this year” since it was in the fall of 2018.
Maybe they are focusing on selling products to LEO for use in the market they helped create... makes economic sense to play both sides. Check it out;

Aeroscope - DJI

DJI AeroScope is able to identify the vast majority of popular drones on the market today by monitoring and analyzing their electronic signals to gain critical information, allowing users to protect the integrity of their flight-sensitive environment.

www.dji.com

We could use this where I work for sure.

 

[MavicFT1P]

No offense to apple users or DJI per my ranty post. I've had a lousy day.

 

[Meta4]

Autel is based here in Washington state. Their Evo is very competitive, with some specs that superlative.

Autel is no more US based than DJI is.
Autel is based in Shenzen just down the road from DJI.
They have a US office and DJI have several.
Both companies do all their manufacturing in China

 

[twoheadlines]

Ive got some extra nitro pills if you need them, @old man mavic . I asked the doctor to double my prescription last time so that I can keep up with the rest of the youngsters.

Nitroglycerin sublingual tablets are used just before activities that may cause episodes of angina in order to prevent the angina from occurring.

Ha! Prefer the GTN spray myself. Fizzes under the tongue a bit and always got to be careful not to drop blood pressure too much - that is at the wrong time. Otherwise works a treat.

 

[RayOZ]

If DJI were smart, they would let themselves get absorbed by a bigger company, and that would help them expand and grow.

I would rather not see DJI get bought out. Any company that buys it, would pay a huge premium, based on the size of their market and success. That will translate to them trying to squeeze as much profit out of it for their investment, it's all ROI for them. Then it's going to become profit driven, quality and R&D will drop, cos they all cost too much. Then they'd rush their product release before properly testing them. See Samsung with their Note 7 and now Galaxy Fold. They haven't learnt their costly lesson the first time.

 

[Former Member]

I would rather not see DJI get bought out.

I WOULD! Especially by a company that knows how to maintain growth, and treat their customers better.

Any company that buys it, would pay a huge premium, based on the size of their market and success.

Not after DJI found $147 million missing from their cookie jar. They would be lucky to get a fair buyout offer. Then if they did, Im sure that half the DJI staff would be furloughed.

I would rather not see DJI get bought out. Any company that buys it, would pay a huge premium, based on the size of their market and success.

Success is important, but how do you , or more importantly a potential DJI buyer, measure success? Profits? Gross sales? Market domination? Efficient corporate structure? Oh my, my. Profits for 2018? Oops, had a $147 fraud event. So much for 2018 profits. 2019 profits? That would fall into the projection category, not success. Projections are what make a company, especially an IPO, have value. If a company has slowed down new releases, lost $147 million dollars somewhere last year, has no new products on the horizon, and is trying to hold market share based on its current products, best of luck to them.

I have a great idea! maybe DJI can start a Gofundme campaign.. I can help with the campaign title.

"Drone manufacturer trying to raise a few hundred million to create a new product. You can donate as little as $10 for a $5 discount coupon on a Phantom 5, Mavic 3, or Mavic Air 2."