The consumer drone industry in China has enjoyed rapid growth in recent years that has propelled once small start-ups into leading forces in the global market, dominating production, sales and technological innovation, industry leaders said on Thursday.
The boom of the consumer drone industry has been fueled by advanced technologies that have brought the complex high-tech flying devices into people's daily lives, a vast domestic and global market and favorable policies for tech start-ups and innovation in China, experts noted, saying that the industry still has great growth prospects.
"I think consumer drones are one of the rare China-made products that, we can really say, are dominating the global market," Wang Fan, public relations director of Shenzhen-based DJI Innovation Technology Co, told the Global Times on Thursday.
According to Wang, DJI is a clear example of the fast growth in the Chinese drone industry and its dominance in the global market.
Once a small tech start-up, DJI is now one of the largest consumer drone producers around the world. In 2015, global sales for DJI devices reached 6 billion yuan ($890 million), with roughly 80 percent of the sales from overseas markets, said Wang.
The U.S. contributed to 45 percent of DJI's global sales in 2015, Wang said, noting that 400 Apple stores will also carry DJI products in the future.
"We are actually a Chinese company that started to thrive overseas first, and then 'entered' the Chinese market," he said.
Besides DJI, there are several other Chinese drone makers that are suceeding on the global stage.
In the third quarter of 2016, five Chinese companies were ranked in the top 10 of a Top 20 Drone Company Ranking by German industry market research company Drone Industry Insights, including mobile and internet giant Xiaomi and Beijing-based tech firm Zero Zero Robotics.
More Chinese companies are also making their way into the global market. Zerotech, a start-up in Beijing that produces pocket selfie drones, saw the number of users of its drones reach 50,000 globally and its products have started to be sold on Amazon, the company said in a statement sent to the Global Times.
China is the world's largest consumer drone producer, according to Ke Yubao, executive secretary-general of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, an industry group affiliated with the Civil Aviation Administration of China. In 2015, China-made consumer drones accounted for about 70 percent of total global production, Ke said.
Innovation wins
The innovation Chinese firms have undertaken to connect a high-tech flying device with smartphones or cameras at a relatively lower cost is what makes these companies thrive, Ke told the Global Times.
Simple controls and low prices are essential for consumer drones to succeed in the market, Wang said. "If the drone is too hard to operate or too expensive to afford, then no one would buy it," he said.
"If we are just talking about technology, there are many companies in the U.S., Europe, South Korea and Japan that can do it, but their costs would be too high," Wang said.
Wang attributed the low cost to the favorable environment for innovative tech start-ups in China, particularly in Shenzhen, with its advanced infrastructure and large number of high-tech workers.
The vast market in China has also helped the drone industry, experts said. According to an iiMedia report, the Chinese consumer drone market reached about 800 million yuan in sales in 2015. Globally, drone sales were over $8 billion yuan in 2015, according to a June report by U.S. market researcher Business Insider Intelligence.
The drone market is expected to continue to grow fast both in China and globally over the next few years.
According to the iiMedia report, drone sales in China could reach 24 billion yuan by 2019, while the Business Insider Intelligence report estimates global market sales will reach $12 billion in 2021.
That market outlook has drawn many big tech companies to invest in the drone industry.
Chinese firms will face tough competition from these companies and will have to continue to innovate to stay ahead in the game, said Hu Yiqiang, an independent industry analyst in Beijing.
"The market for the 'drone + camera' model is not big enough… it is imperative [for Chinese companies] to actively expand the market and continue with the 'drone+' strategy in other areas," Hu told the Global Times Thursday.
