Manufacturers soar on demand
Companies fly high on increasing sales, and see the bigger picture for sector's growth
The global market for commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV, or drones) has experienced explosive growth over the past few years, and much of this expansion was driven by the new products and technologies from specialist makers in Shenzhen.
The drone market is huge. According to an estimate in Oppenheimer's February 2016 Drone Report, over 11 million UAV units were shipped annually. Consumer drones account for 10 million of these, but faster growth is expected from the "prosumer" (or professional consumer, with over 1 million units) and professional/commercial segments (with 10,000 units), as new usage applications are opening up for commercial purposes, such as infrastructure inspection, construction and logistics.
DJI (Shenzhen Da-Jiang Innovation Technology), the pioneer of drones for the consumer market, has grown from its home base in Shenzhen to become the world's largest drone maker with an estimated 70 per cent share of the market. The company now has 5,000 staff, including 1,500 research and development staff and engineers, with 16 offices and two flagship stores globally. In the US, about 47 per cent of drones registered with the Federal Aviation Administration for commercial use are DJI products, while in Japan, the company's lines account for over 50 per cent of registered drones for commercial use.
Kevin On, associate director of communications, DJI Asia-Pacific, says Shenzhen was a natural choice as the headquarters for the company.
"Shenzhen is described by many as the 'Silicon Valley of Asia'," he says. "There is a vast pool of engineering and R&D talent in Shenzhen and, with this talent, we are able to develop many of our components in-house, from the gimbal to camera, and the drone itself to the algorithm. This enables us to turn great ideas into products and bring them to the market quickly."
The drone industry presents more possibilities than challenges for DJI, On says.
"We are already changing the way people see the world, and we are seeing huge commercial implications with the use of our aerial technology," he explains. "Some of these trends include search and rescue, surveying and mapping, inspection, agriculture, real estate and construction, sports events and broadcasting; all these will create positive economic and social impacts."
