DJI's revenue in 2017 hit 18 billion yuan, marking an impressive 80% year-on-year growth. The company currently holds a dominant position in the consumer drone market. To sustain its performance growth, DJI is expanding into industrial sectors such as agricultural crop protection and aerial filming, even venturing into the toy drone segment.
With the rise of DJI, the civil drone market has attracted significant attention. However, over 80% of the Chinese drone market is still dominated by military drones, with major state-owned enterprises like AVIC leading the sector. As the civilian drone market grows, these large groups are also entering the space, which has led to a decline in DJI’s market share in the consumer segment.
Faced with increasingly fierce competition in the consumer drone market, DJI must look beyond its core business to ensure continued high-speed growth. Industrial applications and toy drones have become key areas of focus for the company.
According to a forecast from IDC, a market research agency, the Chinese drone market will continue to grow rapidly over the next two years. However, the growth rate for industrial UAVs is expected to be higher. In 2020, while only 33% of total shipments were industrial drones, they accounted for 49% of sales, indicating strong potential for growth in the industry sector.
In the industrial application market, DJI is a relative newcomer, facing established competitors. For example, in agricultural plant protection, DJI hasn't fully dominated the consumer market. Companies like Ehang and others are already active in this field. Reports suggest that DJI is engaged in intense price wars to challenge Ehang’s dominance.
The toy drone market has also seen gradual growth, but product quality remains inconsistent, and overall competitiveness is still low. Leveraging its strong brand reputation from the consumer drone market, DJI launched the Tello toy drone through its subsidiary Rui Chi Technology at a price of 699 yuan—only 200 yuan more than many other toy drones on the market. While the cost is not high, the handling performance of Tello is superior to most competitors.
However, DJI may not replicate its success in the toy drone market as quickly as it did in the consumer segment. It faces strong resistance from industry leaders in agricultural plant protection, and as more players enter the toy drone space, technological innovation and competition will intensify. As DJI expands into this market, many smaller brands are likely to be eliminated, leaving only a few strong competitors.
Looking at DJI’s development trajectory, maintaining consistent revenue growth is essential to attract investors and secure financing. This will push the company to enter multiple industries. Will it eventually dominate various sub-sectors, much like it did in the consumer market? Only time will tell.
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