By pushing the boundaries of creativity,
DJI is redefining the entire drone industry
Frank Wang, CEO and mastermind
behind DJI, the world
famous manufacturer of unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAV),
built a drone empire from humble beginnings.
Founded in a dorm room at the
Hong Kong University of Science &
Technology, what began as a 20-member
company transformed into an industry
leader with more than 8,000 global
employees. In just 10 years, DJI opened
up branches in 17 different cities with key
offices in Shenzhen, San Francisco,
Tokyo, Frankfurt and Seoul.
Last year, the company opened its first
overseas flagship store and the first DJI
Arena in Korea to foster the local drone
culture among the public. And the timing
couldn't be more perfect—South Korea's
trade ministry announced that it would
throw its weight behind the promotion of
12 new industries in 2017, especially
drones. Most notably, the country will
invest an impressive KRW 500 billion
(USD 428 million) to foster the industry
by 2019.
In a recent interview with KOTRA
Express, Moon Tae-hyun, Country Manager
of DJI Korea, talked about why DJI
opened up its first overseas flagship store
and drone arena in Korea and the company's
efforts to spearhead the industry.
What makes DJI rise above the competition?
Throughout the past 11 years, the key
differentiator that sets DJI apart from other
companies is that it has made flight experience as effortless as
possible. Our
key product lines include the Phantom,
Inspire and Matrice. At the end of the
day, our mission is to make UAV technology
more accessible, reliable and convenient
to the mass public.
Today, DJI is more than just a drone
manufacturer; it's a pioneer in the gimbal
market that boasts unrivaled technological
expertise. We brought our smooth video
technology to the ground with the Ronin
and Osmo series, giving creators wider
options to implement their creativity.
Why did DJI choose to do business in Korea?
The DJI Korea flagship is our first
overseas store which opened in March
2016.
Korea is a highly digital and mobilefirst
market, fueled by the influence of Kpop,
Korean dramas and locally produced
content, among others. And with more
and more people consuming video content
on their mobile devices and the growing
community of photographers and content
creators, DJI sees Korea as a very
important market with strong growth
potential. In fact, Korea is known for having
a mobile internet penetration rate of 88 percent, with 50
percent of people in
the country watching videos online. Every
second, more than 400 people watch a
video on their smartphones.
In your opinion, why do you think
drones have experienced explosive
popularity in the country?
The growing interest in drones is the
result of two important factors—drones
are becoming increasingly easier to use
and every day, people are seeing more
possibilities of drones in different industries.
While the trend is the same globally,
we've learned from the Korea flagship
store that local customer interest spans
across different demographics—from
teenagers to the elderly, and from recreational
users to those seeking to start their
own business using our aerial technology.
At this stage, educating the public is an
important aspect to any kind of technological
advancement/adoption. As the
leading UAV manufacturer, we strive to
educate consumers with safety guidelines,
best practices and video tutorials which
can be found on our social media channels,
website (http://www.dji.com/flysafe)
and in our product packaging. We also have a global education and safety program
called the NPE (New Pilot
Experience) at the DJI Arena and flagship
store, which aims to provide new pilots
the technical knowledge, operation skills
and best practices before they lift off. We
will also organize workshops for those in
Korea who are interested to learn about
different industrial applications, products
and app usage.
DJI is working closely with the aviation
authorities around the world to promote
the development of UAVs in ways that
won't compromise the growth and adoption
of the technology. DJI is an active
participant in the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's
UAV policy committee in Japan as well
as the Federal Aviation Administration in
the United States, where we provide recommendations
on best practices and advocate for
policy outcomes to ensure safe UAV
flights and innovative use of our technology.
As we continue to strengthen our
brand in Korea, we look forward to
exploring strategic partnerships with local
content partners, other brands, the public
sector, and together, explore the future of
possibilities with our aerial technologies.
Were there any challenges that
the company faced while trying to
expand its business in Korea?
What DJI is doing now no one has really
done before and because UAV development (both hardware and software) is
such a new and niche
category, we have
to look harder to find the right talent. We
want to go after people who think critically
and do things differently. We want
people who are able to push boundaries.
But overall, there are more possibilities
than there are challenges as this is one of
the most interesting industries to be in
right now. We are already changing the
way people see the world and we are seeing
huge commercial implications with
the use of our aerial technology. Some of
these local trends in commercial applications
include search and rescue, surveying
and mapping, real estate and construction,
inspection, agriculture, sports events and
broadcasting, all of which will create positive
economic and social impacts.
What are some of the goals or
vision that your company has for
Korea?
Our focus still remains on our flagship
store and the DJI Arena to provide a good
experience for people who want to learn
how to fly. In both places, we're offering
workshops for different audiences (from
creators to industry experts) to use our
space for creativity.
We'll continue to explore news ways on
how our technology can be used for various
industries and businesses, such as
expanding the use of DJI's SDK (Software
Developer's Kit) and GS Pro
(Ground Station Pro).
GS Pro is an iPad app designed by professional
operators to plan and control
autonomous flights for DJI aircrafts.
Through the app's concise and easy to use
interface, complex flight missions can
take place with just a few taps. GS Pro
was designed to improve workflow and
dramatically increase efficiency in a wide
range of industries, especially those in
aerial mapping, architecture, precision
agriculture and electrical inspections.
DJI's SDK has opened up new business
opportunities globally, and we look forward
to seeing the same in Korea. For
example, a logistics company in South
Africa used the SDK program to automate
DJI's developer's drone 'Matrice
100' to autonomously scan products in the
warehouse, flying through the programmed
path. This not only saves time
but cost.
With the SDK platform, drones and
industries have become even smarter and
easier to fly, and they're playing a key
role in building the UAV ecosystem.