DJI makes 1 billion in 2015 but why isn't it made in America ?

"Quality" you say ?
I'd say 'inventive' as far as lightbridge goes but couldn't agree with quality.
If they eliminate shell cracks then I'll agree with quality as a description.

Am I too harsh on them?
Does anyone actually know the ins and outs of lightbridge outside DJI... It will almost certainly be a wifi implementation similar to wifibroadcast. Some are getting 3km video downlink at the moment using raspberry-Pi's with off the shelf wifi dongles and open source code (including telemetry). Asynchronous transmission is not difficult to implement, it's provided for in the wifi protocol. And the wifibroadcast crowd are getting lower latency than lightbridge with 1080p. Yes, DJI make a great product at a good price. It is nicely designed. It is a plug and play solution that works out of the box and performs well. Rather than inventive it is arguable they have been very clever in packaging existing technology into products that is accessible to and meets the needs of enthusiasts better than competitors can.
 
Look, basically what DJI did is to create the motor control logic to keep a quad in the sky. Then they worked with what appears to be a standard 3 axis gimbal and some off the shelf wifi systems and came up with Phantom I and II. Like an iPhone, it was a innovative way to package relatively standard electromechanical gizmos into a user friendly package. Then they came up with Lightbridge - which is different from, but based on WifFi protocols. Again, some new engineering but not earth shattering.

DJi has (sort of) perfected putting all that tech into a mass produced product at a damned impressive price and marketed it.

Again, a lot like Apple, the sum is greater than the individual parts. DJI has this weird affection for Apple - they try to emulate it in some ways and take exactly the opposite tack in many others (materials management for one example, customer service for another).

Apple is not specifically American and DJI isn't completely Chinese. It's a complicated world we live in. Get used to it. It only gets worse.
 
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"Apple is not specifically American and DJI isn't completely Chinese. It's a complicated world we live in. Get used to it. It only gets worse."

How isn't dji 100% chinese? It's in wiki as a 100% owned chinese company


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Look, basically what DJI did is to create the motor control logic to keep a quad in the sky. Then they worked with what appears to be a standard 3 axis gimbal and some off the shelf wifi systems and came up with Phantom I and II. Like an iPhone, it was a innovative way to package relatively standard electromechanical gizmos into a user friendly package. Then they came up with Lightbridge - which is different from, but based on WifFi protocols. Again, some new engineering but not earth shattering.

DJi has (sort of) perfected putting all that tech into a mass produced product at a damned impressive price and marketed it.

Again, a lot like Apple, the sum is greater than the individual parts. DJI has this weird affection for Apple - they try to emulate it in some ways and take exactly the opposite tack in many others (materials management for one example, customer service for another).

Apple is not specifically American and DJI isn't completely Chinese. It's a complicated world we live in. Get used to it. It only gets worse.
Could you please elaborate on the lightbridge protocols, particularily to the extent they are outside the wifi standards. Im really interested in this and information is scarce. Nothing in the patent doc suggests they are doing anything that cant be coded in existing wifi standards.
Look, basically what DJI did is to create the motor control logic to keep a quad in the sky. Then they worked with what appears to be a standard 3 axis gimbal and some off the shelf wifi systems and came up with Phantom I and II. Like an iPhone, it was a innovative way to package relatively standard electromechanical gizmos into a user friendly package. Then they came up with Lightbridge - which is different from, but based on WifFi protocols. Again, some new engineering but not earth shattering.

DJi has (sort of) perfected putting all that tech into a mass produced product at a damned impressive price and marketed it.

Again, a lot like Apple, the sum is greater than the individual parts. DJI has this weird affection for Apple - they try to emulate it in some ways and take exactly the opposite tack in many others (materials management for one example, customer service for another).

Apple is not specifically American and DJI isn't completely Chinese. It's a complicated world we live in. Get used to it. It only gets worse.
 
If you REALLY want things to be made in the US, you need to get people to work as cheap as they will in China. We have US banks that have call centers in the Philippines. It's not because the long distance rates are cheaper. It's not because the travel to and from is cheaper than going to Arizona. It's not because they have some awesome technology that the US doesn't.

Simply, they work for WWWAAAAAYYYYYYY less money and they have a stronger work ethic. For example, if there is a storm forecast, they rush into work so they will be stuck there instead of stuck at home without being able to work. In the US, when 2 inches of snow is forceast, people starting calling out from work.

Similar mentalities apply to many parts of the world. We have our burger flippers and drive thru order handlers crying for more $ while their foreign counterparts are working hard for less. That whole math thing is the real issue. Less cost equals more profit. More cost equals less profit.
 
If you REALLY want things to be made in the US, you need to get people to work as cheap as they will in China. We have US banks that have call centers in the Philippines. It's not because the long distance rates are cheaper. It's not because the travel to and from is cheaper than going to Arizona. It's not because they have some awesome technology that the US doesn't.

Simply, they work for WWWAAAAAYYYYYYY less money and they have a stronger work ethic. For example, if there is a storm forecast, they rush into work so they will be stuck there instead of stuck at home without being able to work. In the US, when 2 inches of snow is forceast, people starting calling out from work.

Similar mentalities apply to many parts of the world. We have our burger flippers and drive thru order handlers crying for more $ while their foreign counterparts are working hard for less. That whole math thing is the real issue. Less cost equals more profit. More cost equals less profit.

Well America is doomed then and Not even Donald Trump can do anything about it. Sad.


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Well America is doomed then and Not even Donald Trump can do anything about it. Sad.


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Sure he can. Donald Duck can ban all import and foreign workers except those work for his company and his relative.


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Not everything made in China is garbage. But they are innovative in that **** Shenzhen Province. It's a real hub of advancement and manufacturing.
 
If it was made in 'Merica the cost per unit would rise to offset the labor rate or the company would have take less profits. Shareholders would not likey.
 
I'm amazed at the growth DJI has had doubling its turnover in 1 year and yet it's a chinese designed chinese made product. What would Donald Trump say? "Time to make quality drones in America " I'd say, but over all hats off to China, this for me is the first time I've seen a quality product designed and made in China, a good sign for things to come for China in general, why? Because they listen to their customers and strive for perfection, no different to apple really (which is designed in America).


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1. They don't have an EPA to speak of
2. They don't have to pay union pay
3. They don't have to provide obamacare
4. They can pay kids 50c a day to manufacture/assemble the product
5. They have very few toxic waste management regulations (that get followed)
6. They purchase our scrap materials, reprocess them and sell them back at huge profit
7. They can freely steal technology and re-manufacture it without recourse

America is too lazy and too overrun with bureaucratic BS to be able to manufacture anything of significant volume cheap enough to compete given the governmental overhead here. An American worker would have to be paid above minimum wage (or they get the lazy slugs), likely paid union wages, provided vacation, sick leave and healthcare. A chineese worker is happy just to have a job at all making in a week what we likely make in an hour.

So tell me again why the jobs are over there?
 
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Well America is doomed then and Not even Donald Trump can do anything about it. Sad.


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Nothing lasts forever.
 
Firs of all Trump is an idiot.

Secondly, for the people that want to keep shipping jobs to China so they can get cheap products, the idea is ridiculous and amounts to Voodoo economics. You will destroy local economies for cheaper products.

If US companies want to keep shipping jobs to countries with lower job standards such as China, that should be their decision but in turn any patents they hold in the US should be void and their products should not sold in the US.



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Firs of all Trump is an idiot.

Secondly, for the people that want to keep shipping jobs to China so they can get cheap products, the idea is ridiculous and amounts to Voodoo economics. You will destroy local economies for cheaper products.

If US companies want to keep shipping jobs to countries with lower job standards such as China, that should be their decision but in turn any patents they hold in the US should be void and their products should not sold in the US.

I am sorry but thats a completely idiotic outlook and statement. If that were the case you would be living in a cabin in the woods, chopping wood for heat and hunting for food. Virtually every product is made up of at least some components from outside the US borders (be that China, Mexico, or other). We would have no cars, many parts are manufactured overseas. We would have no computers, most electronic chips are manufactured in asia. And the list goes on. The days of "Made in America" are gone. Long gone. Its a global manufacturing society now.
 
I am sorry but thats a completely idiotic outlook and statement. If that were the case you would be living in a cabin in the woods, chopping wood for heat and hunting for food. Virtually every product is made up of at least some components from outside the US borders (be that China, Mexico, or other). We would have no cars, many parts are manufactured overseas. We would have no computers, most electronic chips are manufactured in asia. And the list goes on. The days of "Made in America" are gone. Long gone. Its a global manufacturing society now.

And thats why Walmart is one of the largest employers in the US. Their employees can barely survive on their wages. Keep buying and supporting cheap imports. That's what vodoo economics is all about. Only investors/corporations profit from such economy.


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Nobody is going to buy a $1000 DVD player or a $500 USB thumb drive. Not anymore. Thats what they would cost if totally manufactured in US by US employees given all the regulations and wanted/expected/regulated pay scale.

Everyone wants higher wages and cheap projects. Sorry, it simply does not happen like that. If a company pays the wages people WANT, then the product becomes uncompetitive in the current market due to its price point.

Anyway, this is getting into politics and I don't think the mods here like that. So I will take the off ramp here and let it lie before the thread gets locked.
 
Originally DJI only made a RC Helicopter Controller... the wookong-H and nothing more than that.... then they expanded to the Multirotor Controller... the wookong-M and you had to supply everything.... frame, motors, ESC.... and the other components to create a RC multirotor platform..... the third party suppliers for the frames where not cheap in those days... when the wookong-m first came out it was $1500 and you had to add your own equipment so they became expensive pretty quick... so it was targeted toward pro film makers... when DJI realized there was just so many controllers they were going to sell at that price range they came out with their own frame/kits for the controllers and they released a cheaper controller called the Naza.... but neither of these controllers had any type of flight software.... they then offered waypoints at around another $1500...... again too expensive for the average Joe..... the Phantom frame actually was designed from a French guy who was going to sell it on his own... but then DJI got it and created the Phantom.... and now we are on the 4th version of that platform..... there was only one other platform on the market in the US and it was way over complicated for the majority.... The only thing that DJI had going for it was the mulitrotor controller... otherwise they would have been gone a long time ago....
 

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