TECHNOLOGY

THE PERFECT DRONE

What has Frank Wang achieved with DJI

By Adam Zheng

An Actual Drone

DJI, short for SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd or “Shenzhen Da-Jiang-Innovation Technology Co., Ltd” or “深圳市大疆创新科技有限公司” in Chinese. DJI is a Chinese technology company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong with factories around the world. It is known as a manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV, commonly known as "drones") for aerial photography and videography. DJI also designs and manufactures gimbals, flight platforms, cameras, propulsion systems, camera stabilizers, and flight control systems. Frank Wang, the Founder of DJI, started his company with a $2300 grant and in a decade, he has turned it into a $15 billion powerhouse. How does DJI succeed in the drone market? How has Frank Wang become the world’s first drone billionaire? And what does his success mean for China and the world?

Ten years of DJI

Wang graduated from East China Normal University and attended Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2003. In 2005 Wang persuaded his professors to let him work on the remote-control system for aerial vehicles as his thesis project. The university gave Wang a grant for HK$18,000 (US$2,300) to conduct research and develop a drone. From there, he and his team members dedicated a half-year effort to the idea of creating a drone that could hover indefinitely. That failed.

Frank and his drone

Meanwhile, he and his friend raised HK$2000,000 and founded DJI in Shenzhen. The beginning was tough. Their office was in a small apartment in Shenzhen and the company struggled for many years. In the toughest period, they only had $2000 in the company’s bank account. In 2010, Frank knew that DJI could be the first manufacturer to provide drone flight control for commercial use. But to do that, it was necessary to develop a wide variety of technologies in order to achieve a system wide compatibility.

Wang worked to clarify his company’s mission and to take integrated drone technologies to a higher level. In 2011, DJI introduced multi-rotor control systems and ground station systems, multi-rotor controllers, multi-rotor aircraft, high-precision industrial heads, light multi-axis aircraft, and numerous flight control modules. All those techniques prepared DJI to come out with a commercial remote-control drone. And finally, gathering all the development together, released the DJI Phantom in 2013. DJI would so far up to 70% of the world's drone market.

Before 2016, Frost & Sullivan's survey data showed that in the civil drone market, DJI's market share was 70%, which is already a monopoly share. On August 2, 2016, Wang announced that after the launch of Phantom 4, DJI's market share has reached an astonishing 90%, both domestic and international. Since the launch of the Phantom in 2013, DJI’s sales figures have increased at least three times a year. Wang said that sales in DJI in 2016 will reach 10 billion yuan.

Why DJI?

How does DJI such a competitive in the drone market? How DJI makes the most advanced drone? DJI is the first company to design and mass-produce integrated small drones. They opened up new market opportunities for commercial drones and it is a vast market that is rapidly expanding. It is as if Wang and DJI are creating the market as they go along. Frost & Sullivan analyst Michael Brez says, "The success of DJI is that it has created a non-professional unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market, and everyone is catching up with DJI."

The Logo 

In terms of business strategy, DJI's success is because of both "external factors" and "internal factors." DJI is headquartered in Shenzhen, which is one of the best technologies and innovation centers in the world. Shenzhen is a major city in the Chinese province of Guangdong; it forms part of the Pearl River Delta megalopolis, bordering Hong Kong to the south, Huizhou to the northeast, and Dongguan to the northwest. Both Huizhou and Dongguan are famous for factories and manufacturing.

The area around DJI is known as the Great Bay Area, and some believe that it is going to be the next Silicon Valley. The area is growing fast and is the home of many technology and innovation companies. As Wang describes the region, "Shenzhen is a place where dogs bite dogs." The environment is highly competitive and lots of commercial spies try to steal intelligence and employees. DJI has maintained a few core values that have served it well, one of which is a highly competitive internal system. When asked the question "What is it like to work at DJI," the snarky answer is: “You will never find a girlfriend while working [there].”

You'll never get married, go back to work!

The truth is that many workers have complained that they work overtime without pay and that the hours are brutal. As another employee put it, “The lights in the R & D department are still lit at two o’clock in the morning.” As for Wang himself, he is known to be a strict and harsh leader. When he thinks something is not well-designed, he’ll straightforwardly ask, “What is this garbage?”

Why is Frank Wang a Success? Because he doesn’t believe the Hype

“He is not a clever guy.” That’s one employee’s assessment of Wang on a blog. And if that means he doesn’t play the publicity game, he’s correct. Wang doesn’t enjoy being in public and giving presentations. He doesn’t like talking about the internet or business models. From his point of view, all DJI should concentrate on is invention and technological breakthroughs.

"Internet is a jacket, everyone who wears this jacket looks decent. But it won't hide the internal forever. There are lots of examples of companies that cannot satisfy their customers in developed countries, and they turn their market target to the developing countries. And that's a one-way trip." Wang is clearly focused on execution and not clever branding. In many ways he is the antithesis of Steve Jobs.

The future of DJI

DJI is one of the many companies that represent the future of the Chinese economy. Beside DJI, there is BYD (Electronic vehicle manufacturing), Huawei (Communication technological company), and Tencent (Social Media technological company). Companies like these are part of China’s move from a labor-intensive market economy to a technology-driven one.

Part of their success comes from the advantage of the country’s labor-intensive industries. With new technologies, the most successful businesses are moving away from manufacturing. According to the Smiling Curves Manufacturing Value theory, Chinese business have been running at the bottom for such a long time that they have to adjust to new models. This upgrading process is painful and not easy, but companies such as DJI show the tremendous amount of potential in the country.

PANIC!!!!!

There is panic in the West about China and fears it will soon surpass the United States and whatever is left of the European Union. In this DJI is a glimpse of the future and a crucial sign in what we might call the onset of a more economically equal world.

©Adam Zheng and the CCA Arts Review