New | Xiaomi’s next big thing? Smartphone maker targets market leader DJI with cut price drones

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Visitors gather in front of an exhibition booth displaying recent models of drones during the International Drone Expo in Tokyo on May 20, 2015. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00am, 3 Jun 2015Updated: 8:38am, 3 Jun 2015

China's largest smartphone maker Xiaomi is set to expand into a completely new market: making commercial drones at a price affordable for most Chinese gadget consumers, putting it in direct competition with Shenzhen-based drone maker DJI.

While Xiaomi has yet to officially announce its plans to enter the drone market, the secret has been known for some time by many Chinese tech and industry executives. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Asia in Shanghai last week, multiple industry sources confirmed to the South China Morning Post that Xiaomi conducted its first drone flight test earlier this year.

“The result [of the flying test] was good and smooth. Now Xiaomi only needs to make some minor adjustments, especially with its layout design, so the Xiaomi drone won’t look too much like DJI’s,” said industry insider, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A spokesman for Xiaomi declined to comment.

Another source familiar with the situation said Xiaomi would likely launch its new drone product this summer, in time for the holiday shopping period.

Xiaomi is currently valued at around US$50 billion, making it the fastest growing start-up in China in recent years. Fellow Chinese start-up DJI, which already controls more than 70 per cent of the global civilian drone market, is valued at over US$10 billion following its latest private fund-raising round which included investment from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Accel Partners.

A quadricopter drone is seen in flight on the last day of the first Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Asia in Shanghai on May 27, 2015. Photo: AFP