I don't think a full ban which would ground us recreation fliers will get through personally.... but a 30% Tariff is something else entirely..

[anotherlab]

You seemed to question if Anzu Robotics is a separate company. I confirmed they are an American company and thus are a separate company since we know DJI is a Chinese company.

Whether they are a leader of drone manufacturing in the US is probably a topic for another dedicated thread.



A company licenses another company's technology and then also beats them on price. Is that even a thing?

I'm not questioning that they are a separate company. I questioned their claim to be a drone manufacturer. It's not even a matter of them being a leader, they do not make the drones.

Stefanik's bill is not limited to just DJI. If an American company uses DJI's technology, as defined in the bill, they will be affected as well.

If you take DJI completely out of the picture and create a separate platform, there is a cost to the R&D and ramping up manufacturing. With DJI's lead in the market, that's a steep hill to climb to have a competing product.

 

[msinger]

I questioned their claim to be a drone manufacturer. It's not even a matter of them being a leader, they do not make the drones.

Why are you claiming they don't manufacture drones?

"Nearly all of the components and final assembly of our drones is done in Malaysia. The completed drone hardware is sent to Anzu Robotics in the United States and firmware is then installed and quality control measures are conducted."

"Licensing technology is a normal business practice. Our agreement in licensing the technology associated with the Raptor-series drones gave Anzu Robotics the rights to modify and manufacture this technology at will."

Source: Anzu Robotics FAQ

 

[anotherlab]

Why are you claiming they don't manufacture drones?

"Nearly all of the components and final assembly of our drones is done in Malaysia. The completed drone hardware is sent to Anzu Robotics in the United States and firmware is then installed and quality control measures are conducted."

"Licensing technology is a normal business practice. Our agreement in licensing the technology associated with the Raptor-series drones gave Anzu Robotics the rights to modify and manufacture this technology at will."

Source: Anzu Robotics FAQ

I don't think they have a manufacturing facility of their own in Malaysia. That's a huge expense for a startup. Even if Anzu was doing the actual assembly, they are still using DJI parts. If you dig deep enough in the FCC documentation, there is still DJI branding inside the Raptor (page 15). Even if Anzu could spin up a manufacturing and testing facility, it wouldn't be as cost-effective as having DJI make them.

I think that DJI is building the drones for them and Anzu is handling the installation of the firmware. I wouldn't be surprised if the only firmware installed is the flight control app they licensed from Aloft. And even that app will require DJI's libraries to control the drone. Which gets back to the topic of this thread. The use of DJI technology in the Raptor drone would trigger it being banned if the "Countering CCP Drones Act" becomes law as that law is written now.

It's not a bad way to build a product for enterprise customers. It opens the door for Anzu to provide enterprise-level software as an out-of-the-box solution.

If the Anzu batteries have the same DJI lockout as the Specta, then you have potentially less availability for batteries.

 

[AZDave]

I don't think they have a manufacturing facility of their own in Malaysia. That's a huge expense for a startup. Even if Anzu was doing the actual assembly, they are still using DJI parts. If you dig deep enough in the FCC documentation, there is still DJI branding inside the Raptor (page 15). Even if Anzu could spin up a manufacturing and testing facility, it wouldn't be as cost-effective as having DJI make them.

I think that DJI is building the drones for them and Anzu is handling the installation of the firmware. I wouldn't be surprised if the only firmware installed is the flight control app they licensed from Aloft. And even that app will require DJI's libraries to control the drone. Which gets back to the topic of this thread. The use of DJI technology in the Raptor drone would trigger it being banned if the "Countering CCP Drones Act" becomes law as that law is written now.

It's not a bad way to build a product for enterprise customers. It opens the door for Anzu to provide enterprise-level software as an out-of-the-box solution.

If the Anzu batteries have the same DJI lockout as the Specta, then you have potentially less availability for batteries.

DJI does not manufacture drones in Malaysia, and Anzu doesn't claim to own their own manufacturing business there either. That's what subcontractors are for.

 

[msinger]

I think that DJI is building the drones for them and Anzu is handling the installation of the firmware.

Gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up. It sounded like you had some kind of inside knowledge that Anzu wasn't really manufacturing their own drones. I suppose we should take their word until a credible source proves otherwise.

It's not a bad way to build a product for enterprise customers. It opens the door for Anzu to provide enterprise-level software as an out-of-the-box solution.

If that was really the goal, DJI should allow custom firmware to be installed on their existing drones instead. Faster to market and easier to get a foot in the door since companies wouldn't have to worry about building the drones (like Anzu says they are doing).

 

[mavic3usa]

DJI does not manufacture drones in Malaysia, and Anzu doesn't claim to own their own manufacturing business there either. That's what subcontractors are for.

Or something like that but there are factories all over the far east where you can get some space and a line or two to build your drones. You don't have to own the factory and you don't have to own all the equipment from end to end. I have no inside information. But if anyone thinks Anzu owns a factory and all the equipment necessary to build drones and hire factory workers who are Anzu employees with the knowledge to test and build these drones....honestly, you don't need a whole factory to crank out a couple drone models.

There will be people who don't understand this exactly which is why Anzu is a bit misleading by saying “We are manufacturing hardware independently in a country which is not considered a threat as a country of origin,” said Randall Warnas. Funny how all of a sudden, places like Malaysia and Indonesia are "acceptable" places (because it ain't China).