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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2015)
ASIA / PACIFIC January 19, 2015 THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 3 Chinese upstart takes lead in fast-growing drone market By Joe McDonald AP Business Writer S HENZHEN, China — An amateur photographer in Portsmouth, New Hamp- shire drew crowds when he used a drone mini-helicop- ter made by China’s DJI Technology Co. to capture images of historic church steeples and other sights. “I get some amazing photos with it,” said Scott Richardson, a voice teacher who bought DJI’s four- rotor Phantom 2 Vision+ model in May. “With a drone, you can hover three feet above the steeple and get a picture you can’t get any other way.” Founded in 2009 by an engineer with a childhood love of radio-controlled model planes, DJI has become the world’s biggest supplier of civilian drones — possibly the first Chi- nese company to achieve that status in any con- sumer industry. It has grown from 20 employees to a workforce of 2,800, including Chinese, Americans, and Koreans at its headquarters in the southern Chinese city and at outposts in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Frankfurt, Germany. “It’s really amazing what they have managed to do,” said industry analyst Maryanna Saenko of Lux Research Inc. in Boston. From the start, DJI was “very polished, had just the right capabilities and the right price point” — less than $1,000 when most rivals cost at least $5,000, Saenko said. “They hit the sweet spot.” DJI’s latest model, the Inspire 1, released in No- vember, carries a camera that can send live video to a PILOTING THE MARKET. A security guard watches a demon- stration of a DJI Technology Co. Inspire 1 drone in Shenzhen, China. Founded in 2009 by an engineer with a childhood love of radio-controlled model planes, DJI has become the world’s leading supplier in the fast- growing market for civilian drones — possibly the first Chinese brand to achieve No. 1 status in a global consumer product. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) smartphone, with a GPS per year. For professional use, DJI system to compensate for wind and hold it still in launched its Spreading Wings series of bigger midair. The company is part of copters with up to eight an emerging wave of Chi- rotors last year. They offer nese startups in fields such advanced steering and as robotics, clean energy, image-stabilizing systems and telecommunications. and sell for up to $10,000. Richardson, a former The Communist Party news photographer, said he hopes they transform the country from the world’s got on DJI’s waiting list for low-wage factory into a the latest Phantom model creator of profitable tech- as soon as he read about it. “I use it mostly to take nology. DJI and its rivals, pictures from vantage including France’s Parrot points that you couldn’t get SA and 3D Robotics Inc. of any other way,” he said. North the United States, foresee Portsmouth’s demand for drones to shoot Church has been around movies and news footage, since the 1600s, but he gets survey farmland or oil- photos of it that “have fields, inspect power lines never been taken, ever.” In February 2012, DJI and oil pipelines, and give firefighters a bird’s-eye released its first full- fledged drone, the spindly view of burning buildings. Privately owned DJI, Flame Wheel. Later that based in Shenzhen, on the year, it added a camera to outskirts of Hong Kong, the first Phantom after see- declined to disclose sales or ing customers mount Go- profit figures. But founder Pro Inc.’s wearable video Frank Wang told the South cameras on their drones. Since then, research has China Morning Post in Hong Kong that revenue in spread to include cameras, 2013 was $131 million. The software for imaging, and company says revenue control and stabilization grows by 300 to 500 percent systems. Expanding be- yond drones, the company has used its know-how in stabilizing images to create the Ronin, a handheld camera mount. Priced at $3,000, it is marketed as a lower-cost alternative to steady cam systems used by film and TV studios. The company has opened its software-development process to outsiders to create additional tools. A Swiss software maker, Pix4D, has designed an application to transform images shot by DJI or other drones into three-dimen- sional maps. It says its next smartphone model will have an app to control a DJI drone and receive live video. In October, the company briefly entered American pop culture when charac- ters on the “South Park” cartoon used a video- equipped drone modelled on DJI’s Phantom to spy paparazzi-style on their neighbors. DJI rolls out new models as little as five months apart, a rapid pace that reflects intense competi- tion with smaller brands promising lower prices and more features. “The development cycle is tricky,” company spokes- man Michael Perry said. Referring to the Inspire 1, he said, “One of the main reasons we wanted to get this out is, we didn’t want anyone else to do it first.” Unusual for a startup, DJI handles almost every step of its process itself, from research and pro- duction through worldwide sales and repairs. That has led to complaints as repair centers struggle to keep pace with sales. Richardson had to wait two-and-a-half months for Continued on page 16 SPENDY SUSHI. A prospective buyer inspects the quality of fresh tuna before the first auction of the year at Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo on January 5, 2015. A single bluefin tuna sold for 4.5 million yen ($37,500) in annual celebratory bidding at the first auction of the year at Tokyo’s famous fish market. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) 4.5-million yen tuna sold in Japan TOKYO (AP) — A single bluefin tuna sold for 4.5 million yen ($37,500) in annual celebratory bidding at the first auction of the year at Tokyo’s famous fish market. Kiyoshi Kimura, the owner of a Japanese sushi restaurant chain, bought the 400-pound fish at the re-opening of the Tsukiji market after the extended New Year’s break. He was the top bidder for the fourth year in a row. Hundreds of tuna are sold daily at the early morning auction. The popularity of tuna for sushi and sashimi has depleted stocks globally. In November, the International Union for Conservation of Nature designated Pacific bluefin as a species threatened by extinction. Retirement Living . Studio & One-Bedroom Apartments . Dining Room, Beauty and Barber Shop . Activities, Clubs, and Garden Area . Safety, Security, and Companionship . 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