Description
SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. more popularly known as its trade name DJI, which stands for Da-Jiang Innovations, is a Chinese technology company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong with manufacturing facilities throughout the world. DJI is a world-leading manufacturer of commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly known as "drones") for aerial photography and videography. It also designs and manufactures camera gimbals, action cameras, camera stabilizers, flight platforms and propulsion systems and flight control systems.
DJI is the dominant market leader in the civilian drone industry, accounting for around 70% of the world's consumer drone market as of March 2020, 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 militaries and police forces, as well as terrorist groups, with the company taking steps to limit access to the latter. US government institutions have issued statements discouraging their internal use of DJI products, but as of 2020, various agencies at the local and federal level continue to use DJI products. In 2020, many countries around the world used DJI drones to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Corporation structure and infrastructure
In 2018, DJI raised roughly $1 billion in funds in preparation for an envisioned IPO at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. As of July 2020, these rumors persisted with no indication that an IPO is forthcoming. The company had 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 China’s former premier minister Wen Jiabao.
DJI counts roughly 14,000 employees and has 17 offices internationally. The company is known for having a very difficult hiring 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 of the components for these assembly lines are built in-house.
