Insta360, the giant in the action & 360 camera market, just announced the launch of its first-ever drone product ‘Antigravity’ on 28 July.
Insta360 is a leading consumer electronics company founded in 2015 by Liu Jingkang (JK Liu) and headquartered in Shenzhen, China. The company specializes in innovative, non-traditional cameras and holds a 67.2% share of the global 360-degree camera market. It has also surpassed GoPro in action camera revenue, ranking No. 1 worldwide.
On 11 June, Insta360 went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (688775.SH). Following several days of stock price surges, founder JK became the wealthiest Chinese entrepreneur born in the 1990s. As of today, the company boasts a market capitalization of over 65 billion CNY.
Noticeably, Antigravity is not a sub-brand of Insta360, but an independent brand under a newly established company, in which Insta360 holds a majority stake. According to its marketing materials, Antigravity is positioned as the world’s first 360-degree drone designed for everyday users, featuring 8K video capture and an “invisible drone” effect. The product will soon open applications for consumers to join a co-creation public beta and is expected to be officially unveiled in August.
What makes this move intriguing is the timing: just before DJI’s release of its first 360-degree camera, the Osmo 360, Insta360 made a bold entry into DJI’s core domain—the drone market. Why take this step? Insta360 founder JK Liu shared his thoughts in a recent post. Here’s the English translation:
First, DJI is far, far, far stronger than how it appears on the surface and how most people understand it. The boss of DJI is a firm believer in the first principle of physics, making most decisions based on that with incredible rationality. Much respect for that.
But when we decided to make drones, we had three founding ideas:
- A company should be driven by what it truly wants to do.
- We observed a large amount of consumer demand that wasn’t being met, which presented an opportunity to create new growth.
- Developing this business’s synergies will drive the growth of the company’s other businesses and strengthen our overall capabilities.
Five years ago, when we made this decision, I had already anticipated that this move might provoke DJI to start making 360-degree cameras, potentially hitting us hard at home. Even at this cost, we still chose to set sail.
The reason is simple: On one hand, in a marathon, if the frontrunner is a top athlete, you’ll run faster too. Failing to keep up and lying flat in the beginner’s zone is one possible outcome; keeping pace with the top runners—like undergoing devil’s training—is a completely different one.
On the other hand, and more importantly, drones are just like the four wheels of a car. The world needs many types of cars, just as it has various demands for many types of consumer drones (the Hover by Zero Zero Robotics is a great example).
Whether it is cars or drones, beyond strong manufacturers, the development of products requires more users to participate in co-creation. We sincerely invite everyone to join our public beta and co-creation next month.
As we shared in our annual meeting: Over the past decade, we thank GoPro and DJI. They, like gravity, are the pioneers in the industry and the foundational conditions for the industry to exist. The gravity may be given, but it doesn’t mean we have to take it. Onward, together.
The post Insta360 founder explains why it is challenging DJI in drone market first appeared on The Low Down - Momentum Works.
