have DJI become victims of their own success

[old man mavic]

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

 

[Former Member]

Thats a great title to this thread. DJI has a tough job trying to improve on their own success, while also keeping competitors at bay.

@old man mavic I didnt even think about it, but you are right in the fact that DJI has really not come out with any new drones yet this year, and the year is 33% over. Thats a long time, especially with, as you say, "no drones on the horizon."

The Mavic 2 is now 8 months on the market, Enterprise is 6 months since release, no new Phantoms in the news, and the Smartcontroller has now been out for a few months. Did the $147 million dollar fraud problem have anything to do with the lack of new product releases? If not, whats going on at DJI that would cause the lack of shiny new toys for their addicted client base?

 

[old man mavic]

Thats a great title to this thread. DJI has a tough job trying to improve on their own success, while also keeping competitors at bay.

@old man mavic I didnt even think about it, but you are right in the fact that DJI has really not come out with any new drones yet this year, and the year is 33% over. Thats a long time, especially with, as you say, "no drones on the horizon."

The Mavic 2 is now 8 months on the market, Enterprise is 6 months since release, no new Phantoms in the news, and the Smartcontroller has now been out for a few months. Did the $147 million dollar fraud problem have anything to do with the lack of new product releases? If not, whats going on at DJI that would cause the lack of shiny new toys for their addicted client base?

exactly Rob that was my motivation for the thread what is going on there could be many factors,i just put forward a couple of ideas on the subject just my take on the issue

 

[Bigbird48]

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 .

 

[old man mavic]

i would love to be able to purchase a UAV that was made in the UK,unfortunately the few that are ,are priced way to high for hobbyists,its not a case of giving to much business to china,its that they make the best product at a reasonable price point,this is not a political forum,and has nothing to do with where we live its about flying our UAVs

 

[Hossfly]

Old man, Big bird was expressing a legitimate point. It sounds like you have the same wish for the U.K. It seems you are the one that made it political by twisting it in that direction. He wants affordable options and he wants good things for his country as you do for yours. If we have to tiptoe around China in this forum because they make these products then, moderator, please delete my account.

 

[Former Member]

What has totally mystified me in all this drone stuff is where is Japan? Japan has been making quality RC components since the first JR and Futaba radios came out. I mean, just look what comes out of Japan. Camrys, Infinitis, Honda, some of the best quality and longest lasting equipment available. I prefer to do business with Japan because I find them to be of high moral fiber, and honest.

As far as drones being made domestically in the USA or UK, maybe we are falling behind China when it comes to drone design and production. Traxxas, which I believe is a USA based company, has a drone, but its on low the end side. Their cars and trucks are superb quality, and parts are readily available.

I, too , wish that the USA could make something as good as a Mavic, but there are others available, we just choose to buy DJI.

 

[RayOZ]

I think we as consumers are conditioned to expect new products every year. Blame that on the smartphone industry. I think a 2-year cycle for drone is OK. I am still using my iPhone 7, cos I just don't think it's work getting a new one for the incremental upgrades. As long as they are still buyers for DJI's current models, there's no rush to release a new one.
And with new and improved models, expect the price to go up. For those new to drones, it's a big barrier to get started.
Manufacturing in most Western countries are going downhill. The cost of living is higher, which means labor cost needs to be higher, which translates to higher overall cost. That reduces a company's bottom line. We can't reduce wages, that's crazy, so unless China's cost of living increases to match western countries, there's no way manufacturing will move to western countries.

 

[AnzacJack]

If you go back to after the war, no one touch any of the crap that came out of Japan. It was rubbish. But over the years the have developed and became one of the industry leaders for manufacturing and engineering. If it’s Japanese, it’s going to be good. I see China going through that now. My son was heavily involved in motorcycle sports (motor x and freestyle) back about 15 years ago. Chinese bikes started appearing in Australia and they were rubbish. I bought a couple to bash around the paddocks in and they were heavy, poorly built crap. Now, just over a decade later, dudes are actually racing some of these bikes coming out of China. Cars are the same. They are starting to appear on our Australian market, and I’m sure the quality will improve with time. China does seem to have a pretty good grip on consumer electronics. Again, not generally A grade quality, but they are getting there.
I’d much rather be purchasing from locally designed and manufactured companies, but these companies just can’t compete. If they come up with a good product, then they just can’t meet demands. Look at Autel. I’m sure they are a great company, but without a hassle, I just can’t get one here

 

[bushie]

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 .

I am realistic enough to know that Australia is never going to mass produce a UAV and as China is by far our biggest customer in minerals and agriculrure i am happy to buy their UAV.

 

[old man mavic]

Old man, Big bird was expressing a legitimate point. It sounds like you have the same wish for the U.K. It seems you are the one that made it political by twisting it in that direction. He wants affordable options and he wants good things for his country as you do for yours. If we have to tiptoe around China in this forum because they make these products then, moderator, please delete my account.

i have no issue with big bird wanting to support his own country,the problem for me is by saying that we should stop giving so much business to China he is being political,we all purchased our drones because we wanted the best product for our money and in doing so we ended up with a DJI drone,there are alternatives but most of them are made in China anyway, so until other countries produce a compatible drone in spec and price we are left with Chinese products

 

[gnirtS]

DJI has no effective competition. The other runners in the field are years and years behind and simply not worth considering.

As for nothing new i 2019, its 4 months old. A quarter of the way into the year. Thats it.

They've recently upgraded the mavic line. So now they need to refine that. They have plenty of other product lines that maybe due a refinement.

Personally i'd rather that instead of rush out new product after new product they properly finish developing and upgrading existing lines as opposed to having a large number of half baked products out there (A la Canon).

They can afford to do this because at the moment there is no peer level or even near peer level competition.

As for where to buy it, I wouldnt favour a drone from the USA over one from China (Or Swaziland or anywhere else). I have no affiliation for any of those countries. I just want the best product with the best value for money.
I would never buy something whose sole USP was "Made in XXXXXland".

 

[darkneskies]

Old man, Big bird was expressing a legitimate point. It sounds like you have the same wish for the U.K. It seems you are the one that made it political by twisting it in that direction. He wants affordable options and he wants good things for his country as you do for yours. If we have to tiptoe around China in this forum because they make these products then, moderator, please delete my account.

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.

 

[tcope]

First, DJI released two drones less than a year ago. You don't think a brand new product should last at least a year? DJI also just came out with a new monitor for the Mavic 2. You think DJI should kill and compete with their own products? I'm sure DJI is still selling lot of Mavic 2's... so why come out with another product that would kill their older one? Also, what other company is coming out with something better? As there are none, DJI would only be competing with themselves.

 

[Congoblue]

My occupation is designing electronics (in the UK), and the fact is neither the UK nor the USA has the capability to manufacture something like the Mavic or Phantom at a price anyone would be willing to pay. Even if a UK or USA company had designed something, it would not be manufactured here. So, it would be nice, but economics mean that it is not going to happen.

 

[Unsub]

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.

Good news, nevada is pushing for drone mfg.

 

[Former Member]

DJI has no effective competition. The other runners in the field are years and years behind and simply not worth considering.

As for nothing new i 2019, its 4 months old. A quarter of the way into the year. Thats it.

They've recently upgraded the mavic line. So now they need to refine that. They have plenty of other product lines that maybe due a refinement.

Personally i'd rather that instead of rush out new product after new product they properly finish developing and upgrading existing lines as opposed to having a large number of half baked products out there (A la Canon).

They can afford to do this because at the moment there is no peer level or even near peer level competition.

As for where to buy it, I wouldnt favour a drone from the USA over one from China (Or Swaziland or anywhere else). I have no affiliation for any of those countries. I just want the best product with the best value for money.
I would never buy something whose sole USP was "Made in XXXXXland".

The title of this thread is "Have DJI become victims of their own success?" DJI used to come out with 2 or 3 new products every 12 months. That has been reduced to zero for this year. The April 23rd announcement was downplayed by DJI and then canceled. They have made themselves a hard act to follow, even to themselves. They try to model themselves after Apple, and Apple has had their problems, but continues to grow, release new products. and compete with Android.

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

 

[twoheadlines]

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 .

Can't really blame the Chinese for too much business going DJI's way. They have designed and built a quality range of products that everyone is happy to keep on buying, because it does the business.
If someone in any other country, including the US, can come up with a design and product range that everyone would buy based on quality and reliability equal to or better than DJI, let them go for it.

 

[Congoblue]

If someone in any other country, including the US, can come up with a design and product range that everyone would buy based on its quality and reluability, let them go for it.

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

 

[Former Member]

First, DJI released two drones less than a year ago.

A year in technology equates to a lifetime.

You don't think a brand new product should last at least a year?

It depends who you are. If you got used to having the latest and greatest in tech, again, one year is a long time. DJIs track record of multiple annual new release drones is what we have to go by. Anticipation has grown for their products, and it is due to their ability to release them. Back to the subject of the thread, has DJI become a victim of their own success... apparently so.

You think DJI should kill and compete with their own products?

Thats is exactly what they have been doing for years. Phantom 4 vs. Mavic Pro. Phantom 4 Pro v2 vs. Mavic 2. Mavic Air vs. Spark. Just so they could stay competitive with other brands. Shooting themselves in the foot must hurt, and they have done it many times.

I'm sure DJI is still selling lot of Mavic 2's... so why come out with another product that would kill their older one?

That has been their modus operandi from day 1.

Also, what other company is coming out with something better? As there are none, DJI would only be competing with themselves.

I wouldnt say none. The competition smells the blood trail. Can DJI keep pace? Stayed tuned for the next chapter of the saga...