Is the sales of the first drone cold? Liu Jingkang of Insta360 is anxious, tough, and confused.

Insta360's first drone product, the InstaDrone A1, which challenges DJI, has fallen into a public opinion storm of poor sales.

According to the data provided by Liu Jingkang, the founder of Insta360, the InstaDrone sold for more than 30 million yuan in the Chinese market within 48 hours. An industry insider said bluntly that with a customer unit price of seven or eight thousand yuan and a sales volume of more than 30 million yuan, the sales volume is about 3,000 - 4,000 units. "The sales volume is really average."

The "BUG" column found that as of January 4th, the InstaDrone A1 ranked 27th on the JD.com's top 30 best - selling drone list. It did not appear in the top 20 on the Tmall's best - selling drone list.

In the past month, Liu Jingkang has made multiple statements on different occasions and channels, saying that Insta360 is in an abnormal competition with DJI and that he will "fight to the end until death."

In fact, Insta360 has been in a situation of increasing revenue but not profit for multiple quarters. In the third quarter of 2025, Insta360's net profit even decreased by 15.9% year - on - year.

New product is accused of poor sales and misses the top 20 lists on JD.com and Tmall

Insta360, which has been deeply involved in the panoramic camera field, officially entered the drone field in December.

A month ago, the first panoramic drone, the InstaDrone A1, jointly incubated by Insta360 and a third - party, was officially launched. The original price started at 7,999 yuan, and the price after national subsidy was 6,799 yuan. The official claimed that the InstaDrone A1 is the first drone that integrates 360° panoramic imaging, immersive flight perspective, and somatosensory control into the same system.

However, the InstaDrone A1, which Insta360 had high hopes for, fell into a public opinion storm of poor sales at the beginning of its launch. Some media quoted the sales data from leading domestic e - commerce platforms, saying that the sales data of the InstaDrone A1 was not ideal.

An industry insider said that with a customer unit price of seven or eight thousand yuan and a sales volume of more than 30 million yuan, the sales volume is about 3,000 - 4,000 units. "The sales volume is really average, especially considering the large number of promotional videos by self - media accounts."

The "BUG" column checked the leading domestic e - commerce platforms. As of January 4th, the JD.com self - operated flagship store page of the InstaDrone showed that more than 500 units of the product had been sold, and the JD.com official flagship store showed that more than 400 units had been sold; the Tmall official flagship store page showed that more than 400 units had been sold; the Douyin official flagship store page showed that more than 100 units had been sold.

Also, as of January 4th, on the JD.com's top 30 best - selling drone list, the InstaDrone A1 ranked 27th, and the list was mostly dominated by DJI products. It did not appear in the top 20 on the Tmall's best - selling drone list.

Overall, as a new product that has been on the market for a short time and has a relatively high unit price, the sales performance of the InstaDrone A1 may not be that bad. However, compared with its peers such as DJI, the overall gap is still large.

In addition, as the first drone product launched by Insta360, some users have also reported problems with image quality and image transmission after purchase. A JD.com user said, "I quickly unpacked it and charged it as soon as I got it. I couldn't wait to take it out and fly it in the afternoon. But the image quality is really hard to describe. It feels even worse than the MINI4K I played with before." Another Tmall user said, "The image transmission is terrible. As long as there is a little obstruction, the image transmission will be interrupted. Although it will automatically return, it crashed several times during the automatic return process."

In response to the image quality problem reported by users, the customer service of the InstaDrone said that the panoramic camera captures 360 - degree panoramic images, and its pixels are distributed on a virtual spherical surface. Therefore, when users edit or view the materials later, they only see a partial picture of the virtual spherical surface, and the resolution of this part of the picture will be lower than the total resolution of the panoramic image, which is a normal situation. In response to the image transmission problem, the customer service said that the signal is affected by factors such as buildings, mountains, forests, or electromagnetic interference sources (such as high - voltage power transmission stations, radar stations, communication base stations, and broadcast signal towers). It is recommended to avoid using it in places with dense buildings or signal interference.

Is Liu Jingkang in a hurry? He has repeatedly claimed to have been attacked by DJI

It is worth noting that in response to the public opinion storm of poor sales of the InstaDrone A1, Liu Jingkang, the founder of Insta360, attributed it to DJI's attack.

In an internal letter on December 8th, he mentioned that the InstaDrone A1 faced exclusive pressure in the supply chain and channels. "This is not the first time we have faced such unfair exclusive means. These unconventional and intensive attacks just show that what we are doing has really touched some existing patterns."

In addition, he also frequently spoke out on social media. On December 12th, he shared an article titled "The Supply Chain Battle between DJI and Insta360" on his WeChat Moments and said, "This is only one of the five types of abnormal competition we have encountered. I will fight to the end until death."

On December 22nd, the legal department of Insta360 issued a statement saying that within two weeks after the launch of the new InstaDrone product, more than 2,500 false and malicious contents emerged on the Internet. The relevant evidence has now been fixed and reported to the police. Liu Jingkang then reposted the statement of Insta360's solicitation of clues about black public relations on his WeChat Moments and said, "I counted. In the past three years, we only sent six or seven people to jail. I estimate that the number will increase sharply in 2026."

However, DJI has never publicly responded to Liu Jingkang's claim of being attacked by DJI.

But DJI was not completely inactive. On July 28th, 2025, the InstaDrone brand was officially announced. Only three days later, DJI launched the panoramic camera OSMO 360, which was regarded as entering Insta360's business territory.

In addition to accusing DJI of attacking Insta360, Liu Jingkang has also publicly "insinuated" DJI and its founder Wang Tao several times. In October 2025, DJI was questioned because of the price cuts of multiple products. Liu Jingkang said that part of the reason for DJI's price cuts might be related to Insta360, and he provided users with a 100 - yuan non - threshold voucher.

At the end of October 2025, Liu Jingkang also mentioned Wang Tao, the founder of DJI, in his WeChat Moments: "Those who please themselves are invincible. I really respect him. He is the only king who can achieve a monopoly in consumer electronics and consumer goods, without precedent and without a successor."

In the view of industry insiders, this statement is nominally a tribute but actually an insinuation. This post - 90s founder is not only good at technology but also very good at marketing. However, he has also had setbacks because of marketing. On the day when the InstaDrone A1 started the public beta in August, Liu Jingkang was accused of showing off his wealth by throwing 200,000 yuan in cash at an internal team - building event, which caused market controversy. Subsequently, Insta360 had to issue an announcement to apologize, saying that it had educated its employees and management to ensure that their words and deeds met the requirements of the public image of a listed company.

In a recent interview program with Luo Yonghao, Liu Jingkang also apologized again. "I really did something wrong. For many people, it was an emotional hurt. I have also reflected on it. Now I don't throw money anymore. I give out red envelopes instead."

Trapped in the dilemma of increasing revenue but not profit for multiple quarters

In order to enter the drone field, Insta360 has been in a situation of increasing revenue but not profit for multiple quarters.

In the first quarter of 2025, Insta360's revenue was 1.355 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 40.7%. The net profit was 176 million yuan, a year - on - year decrease of 2.5%. In the first half of 2025, Insta360's operating income was 3.671 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 51.17%. The net profit was 520 million yuan, a year - on - year slight increase of 0.25%.

In the third quarter of 2025, this situation still did not improve.

From the perspective of the first three quarters, Insta360's operating income was 6.611 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 67.18%. The net profit was 792 million yuan, a year - on - year decrease of 5.95%. In a single quarter, Insta360's revenue in the third quarter was 2.94 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 92.64%. The net profit was 272 million yuan, a year - on - year decrease of 15.9%.

Insta360 explained that the company attaches great importance to R & D investment and diversified business layout, and has invested a large amount of money in chip customization and strategic projects. If the impact of the above investment factors is excluded, the profit indicators in the third quarter of 2025 have all increased compared with the same period last year.

Specifically, in the first three quarters of 2025, both the sales expenses and R & D expenses of Insta360 increased significantly, and the growth rate exceeded the revenue growth rate. Among them, the sales expenses increased by 102.60% year - on - year to 1.13 billion yuan, and the R & D expenses increased by 127.02% year - on - year to 1.085 billion yuan.

At the performance briefing, Liu Jingkang also responded to the situation of increasing revenue but not profit. He said that the net profit is more regarded by the company as a dynamic variable, which is affected by multiple factors such as R & D investment, marketing rhythm, and category layout. The company is both firm in its long - term mission and rationally grasps the short - term operating indicators. Under the strategic framework of "doing the right thing in the long run", the company clearly regards some short - term expenses as necessary investments for future competitiveness building. Therefore, this phenomenon is a stage characteristic of the company's active strategic adjustment, rather than being passively trapped in the dilemma of increasing revenue but not profit.

However, Insta360's investment in the drone field has just begun. In addition to the panoramic drone brand InstaDrone jointly incubated with a third - party, it also plans to launch its own drone brand. This means that Insta360's net profit will face downward pressure for a certain period in the future.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Sina Technology", author: Zhang Jun. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.