SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. or Shenzhen DJI Sciences & Technologies Ltd., more popularly known by its trade name DJI, which stands for Da-Jiang Innovations ('Great Frontier Innovations'), is a Chinese technology company. The company is headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, with manufacturing facilities around the world. DJI manufactures commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) for aerial photography and videography. It also designs and manufactures camera gimbals, action cameras, camera stabilizers, flight platforms, propulsion systems, and flight control systems.
As of March 2020, DJI accounts for about 70% of the world's consumer drone market, with no other company accounting for more than 5%. Its camera drone technology is widely used in the music, television, and film industries. The company's products have also been used by military and police forces and terrorist groups, with the company later taking steps to limit access. Some US government institutions have issued statements discouraging their internal use of DJI products, but as of 2020, various agencies at the local and federal levels continue to use DJI products. In May 2021, the US Department of Defense released a report stating that it did not find malicious code in DJI drones.
In January 2019, DJI acquired a majority stake in Swedish camera company Hasselblad.
History
The company was founded in 2006 by Frank Wang (Wang Tao). Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, he enrolled as a college student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in 2003. He was part of the HKUST team participating in ABU Robocon and won third prize.
Wang built prototypes of DJI's projects in his dorm room, selling flight control components to universities and Chinese electric companies. He used the proceeds to move to the industrial center of Shenzhen and hired a small number of people in 2006. The company struggled at first, with a high level of churn among employees, which has been attributed to Wang's abrasive personality and the perfectionist expectations of his employees. The company sold a modest amount of components during this period, as well as relied on financial support from Wang's family friend Lu Di, who provided US$90,000 and managed the company's finances. In 2009, components from DJI allowed a team to successfully pilot a drone around the top of Mt. Everest.
In 2010, Wang hired a high school friend, Swift Zi Jia, to run the company's marketing. DJI began serving the needs of drone enthusiasts in markets outside China. In 2011, Wang met Colin Guinn at a trade show, and they both founded DJI North America, a subsidiary focused on mass-market drone sales. In 2013, DJI released the first model of the Phantom drone, an entry-level drone that was more user-friendly than other drones on the market at the time.
The Phantom was a commercial success, but it led to conflict between Gin and Wang. In the middle of the year, Wang made an offer to buy Guin, which Guin declined. By the end of the year, DJI had locked all employees of the North American subsidiary from their email accounts and was on its way to closing the subsidiary's operations. Guinn sued DJI, the matter being settled out of court.
In 2015, DJI eclipsed the success of the Phantom with the release of the Phantom 3, which was further popularized by the addition of a built-in live-streaming camera. DJI was now the largest consumer drone company in the world, driving many of its competitors out of the market over the following years. 2015 also marked the start of DJI's Robomaster Robotics Competition, an annual international collegiate robot combat tournament held at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center.
In 2017, DJI won a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award for its camera drone technology, which was used in the filming of various television shows including The Amazing Race, American Ninja Warrior, Better Call Saul, and Game of Thrones. In the same year, Wang became Asia's youngest tech billionaire and the world's first drone billionaire.
Also in 2017, signed a strategic cooperation agreement to provide surveillance drones for use by Chinese police in Xinjiang.
On June 5, 2018, police body cam and taser manufacturer Axon announced a partnership with DJI to sell surveillance drones to US police departments. As of 2020, DJI products are also widely used by US police and fire departments.
On 21 January 2019, DJI announced that an internal investigation had uncovered "widespread" fraud by certain employees who "inflated the cost of parts and materials for certain products for personal financial gain." DJI estimated the cost of the fraud at "up to CN¥1 billion" (US$147 million), but maintained that the company "did not have a full-year loss in 2018."
In January 2020, the United States Department of the Interior announced that it would be grounding about 800 drones it was used for wildlife conservation and infrastructure monitoring purposes. As of March 2020, DJI holds approximately 77% of the US market share for consumer drones, with no other company holding more than 4%.
In 2020, DJI drones are being used by many countries around the world to combat coronavirus. In China, DJI drones are used by the police force to remind people to wear masks. In other countries, such as Morocco and Saudi Arabia, DJI drones are used to disinfect urban areas and monitor human temperatures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Corporate Structure and Infrastructure
In 2018, DJI raised nearly $1 billion in funds in preparation for an expected IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. As of July 2020, these rumours continued without any indication that an IPO was on the way. The company previously raised $500 million in a 2015 funding round from investors including New China Life Insurance Co., Ltd., GIC, and New Horizon Capital, the latter being co-founded by the son of former China Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
DJI has approximately 14,000 employees and 17 offices internationally. The company is known to have a very difficult recruitment process as well as an extremely competitive internal culture, where teams are often pitted against each other to design better products.
DJI's factories in Shenzhen include highly sophisticated automated assembly lines. Many components of these assembly lines are made in-house.
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