From the "burden of high energy consumption" to the "freedom of ultra-low power consumption", how does "extremity" revolutionize the visual IoT industry?
At the beginning of 2025, DeepSeek emerged as a disruptor with revolutionary technological breakthroughs. These not only led to "national - level dissemination" in China, with its "friend - circle" ecosystem flourishing, but also gained it global fame. The case of DeepSeek shows that the global perception of Chinese technology is rapidly upgrading, and "industry disruptors" are emerging in large numbers.
What is a disruptor? "They are the drivers of change, using technology to profoundly impact our lives - most or all aspects moving in a better direction." This is how the US magazine Newsweek defined it in a selection.
Apple during the Jobs era, Tesla founded by Elon Musk, and DJI Innovation founded by Frank Wang... Although the "disruptors" operate in different fields, their innovation is not simply an iteration or upgrade of existing products. Instead, it is a revolutionary innovation that starts from first - principles, re - examines market demand, technological paths, and business models, and excavates the real core competitiveness and differential advantages of enterprises.
When a new wave of technological innovation arrives, what kind of "disruptors" will emerge? On April 25th, at a press conference in Hangzhou, we saw a company with the potential to become a disruptor in the visual IoT field - Hangzhou Yanjimu Microelectronics Co., Ltd.
Dr. Yang Zuoxing, the founder of the company, decided to invest 5 billion yuan in the visual IoT field after the COVID - 19 pandemic in 2020. This decision still faces opposition from shareholders. However, using the "fully custom methodology" that disrupts the traditional chip design process, he created the Shenmu AI intelligent camera. With an ultra - low power consumption of 1/10 to 1/100 of the industry average, it has completely changed the history of cameras being inseparable from wires. While becoming a new focus in the industry, these products are also redefining the ecological logic of cameras in multiple fields such as user scenarios, experience interaction, and AI intelligence.
Disrupt an industry by an order of magnitude
The innovation of "disruptors" is mostly achieved through disruptive technologies, disruptive business models, or disruptive user experiences that are different from the mainstream market. Disruptive innovation also often has clear goals: significantly improving performance or quality, significantly increasing efficiency, significantly reducing costs, and significantly enhancing the experience.
In terms of products, simply put, it means being easier to use, more useful, and more practical. In the visual IoT field, various manufacturers are exploring development trends such as ultra - high definition, low power consumption, intelligence, visualization, and scenario - based applications. Among them, "low power consumption" has become the mainstream trend due to the current core demand for avoiding wiring and networking.
Behind this lies the most core difficulty in camera development: limitations in the size of smart devices and high requirements for cost control result in limited battery capacity that the devices can accommodate. How to obtain a usage experience close to that of a constantly - powered device. In other words, it is not difficult to achieve various functions such as AI, 4G support, ultra - high definition, and full - color night vision. However, for products to be truly implemented without a constant power supply, there are extremely high thresholds.
In the exploration of "low power consumption", the early PIR technology had pain points such as the inability to record 24/7, prone to false and missed alarms, and short detection distances. In recent years, the AOV technology also often has practical problems such as incomplete recording, missing or dropped video frames, no sound, and poor image quality in low - light environments, greatly reducing the user experience.
The industry needs breakthrough technological innovation, which is a type of technology that can cause the main performance indicators of products to leap by multiples or dozens of times, affect the industry structure and competitive landscape, and even promote a reshuffle of the industry.
Yanjimu's disruptive innovation solution is to develop a chip with an order - of - magnitude reduction in power consumption under the same performance and cost. On April 25th, Yanjimu held the 2025 Shenmu Spring New Product Launch Conference, introducing AI intelligent outdoor pan - tilt cameras, AI intelligent pocket cameras, AI intelligent 360° battery cameras, AI Sanhao intelligent cameras, and AI intelligent cameras. Different from cameras on the market, four of the five products are equipped with Yanjimu's self - developed "Yanjixin" chip (6920). This self - developed AI chip has extremely low power consumption, as low as 50mW, which is 1/3 of the current industry average.
This breakthrough technological innovation is based on a method proposed by Dr. Yang Zuoxing that disrupts the traditional chip design process - the "fully custom methodology". Compared with the commonly used industry solutions, the fully custom method optimizes through hand - written gate - level netlists, customized logic units, manual layout, and process customization, and can achieve an order - of - magnitude improvement in performance under the same process. In simple terms, it means abandoning "automatic generation" and having engineers "customize details". According to the requirements of the application field, fully customized design enables the chip to achieve optimal performance.
"This year, we will also launch the 6921 and 6941 chips for 2 - megapixel and 4 - megapixel cameras, with energy consumption reduced to 1/10 of the industry average." Dr. Yang Zuoxing pointed out that only by reducing power consumption by an order of magnitude can the industry be disrupted. The core of the camera revolution is to reduce the order of magnitude of power consumption, enabling a shift from constant power supply to battery power and getting rid of the shackles of wires. "For electronic products, getting rid of the shackles of wires is a prerequisite for large - scale production." The current annual demand for cameras is 300 million to 400 million, and I believe it will reach 10 billion in 2035."
Ultra - low power consumption redefines cameras
When power consumption is reduced by an order of magnitude, the meaning of cameras is being redefined, and the imagination space for cameras is also being expanded.
At the press conference, we saw real - time images of the Potala Palace, Mount Sarphu, Everest Base Camp, and Ganzi... We also saw our father fishing in the hometown, our mother growing vegetables, students sweating on the basketball court, and wild animals foraging in the forest... In the product definition of Shenmu, cameras have long been an extension of human vision and hearing and a tool for people to perceive the world.
Intuitively, these images may not seem to have much to do with ultra - low power consumption. However, there has always been a demand for ultra - low - power products in various scenarios such as ecological monitoring, boundary protection, fish ponds and pastures, disaster monitoring, home protection, and millions of new rural areas. The convenience brought by ultra - low power consumption can only be indirectly perceived by users, but without ultra - low power consumption, all disruptive experiences would cease to exist.
In fact, through ultra - low power consumption, Shenmu products achieve zero installation cost. Different from traditional cameras that require wiring, drilling, and approval, and whose installation cost may even be higher than the hardware price, Shenmu uses a magnetic + solar panel design. Users can simply attach it to a wall or tree, and fix it with a cable tie in outdoor scenarios, completely getting rid of the "shackles of wires", which has also become one of the keys to the generational leap from traditional monitoring.
Centered around users, it achieves zero usage cost: Through perovskite solar panels for indoor low - light power supply, combined with a "lifetime free data" package (with the cost pre - embedded in the hardware), users do not need to pay for electricity or network fees.
Dr. Yang Zuoxing fulfilled his long - cherished wish of "constant remote companionship" by tying a camera in the fields of his mother in his hometown in Sichuan, nearly 2000 kilometers away. It is this original intention for a small field that has brought protection to thousands of families. Due to the advantages of zero installation, zero usage cost, long - term AI operation, and 4A - level perception brought by ultra - low power consumption, cameras have become a "instant family connection" product. Through functions such as one - key video intercom, children can check on their elderly parents' work and entertainment at any time. The AI Sanhao intelligent camera launched this time is a multi - modal interactive camera that meets user needs and integrates visual intelligence and emotional design.
Moreover, it can achieve long - term operation of AI functions with limited battery specifications. For example, Shenmu's active "Shen Guardianship": Different from the traditional monitoring function logic, through built - in AI, it focuses on digital support for the elderly, recognizes dozens of dialects for wake - up, identifies dangerous situations such as the elderly falling, and automatically dials family numbers, service hotlines, or alarm numbers in case of an emergency; it can also identify and warn of children climbing out of bed, their sitting postures, concentration, and mobile phone use, and analyze the behavior habits of the K9 population, helping them develop good habits for a healthy body and better study, and alleviating key pain points during the growth period. In outdoor scenarios, it can be linked with scenic area cameras to trigger rescue in case of danger.
The ultra - low power consumption ability also supports Shenmu's 4A (Anyone Anytime Anywhere Anything) - level perception. For example, the AI intelligent outdoor pan - tilt camera launched this time can still output full - color images that surpass the human eye in low - light environments. In Shenmu's images, the night is like day, and key information such as license plates and faces can be clearly captured at night.
Even more, cameras will become a sound - field tool. For example, in the field of agricultural production, applications in areas such as field and fish pond monitoring, agricultural product sales (live - streaming display), scenic area viewing (cloud live - streaming), and intelligent video editing are transforming cameras from consumer products to productivity tools, creating new business value for users.
These are profound scenario changes brought about by the transformation of the product's technological "internal strength".
Believe in the power of "extremity"
It is worth noting that for every product, not just chips, Yanjimu adopts a fully self - developed model of "chip + product + system". This also brings users intelligent imaging products with excellent image quality, algorithms, and power - consumption ratios.
For example, different from the conventional AOV technology, Dr. Yang Zuoxing innovatively proposed the concept of "AOR". Its working principle is that in a static scenario, the device detects events and records audio and video in a low - power state. When an event is detected, it switches to the normal state for recording.
At the same time, Yanjimu's self - developed AI ISP algorithm can achieve leading black - light full - color effects while controlling power consumption, resulting in clearer image quality and a more natural image style, meeting people's demand for full - color and clear image quality in a completely dark environment at night. In terms of AI detection ability, with multiple built - in alarm detection capabilities and the use of AI large - model algorithms, the accuracy rate reaches 99.99%.
This is a manifestation of the product's pursuit of extremity. Only when technological idealism collides fiercely with commercial reality can true disruptive innovation be produced.
According to Dr. Yang Zuoxing, in terms of corporate culture, Yanjimu takes the spirit of extremity as the core of its corporate culture. It believes that without extreme technology, products, and experiences, it is impossible to obtain substantial profits and difficult to cultivate an excellent team. Employees are required to implement extremity in every aspect of their work and carry out all work with the goal of pursuing extremity.
"The company regards extremity as a competitive advantage and a moat. Its vision is 'Extremity Achieves a Beautiful Life', and its brand proposition is 'Protect Love at Zero Cost'. In product R & D and market competition, it always requires itself to meet extreme standards, strive for the best, avoid perfunctory treatment of users, maintain brand reputation, and stand out in the highly competitive market." Dr. Yang Zuoxing firmly believes that under the guidance of the fully custom methodology, only he can succeed because 99% of enterprises would first fail to be willing to invest 5 billion yuan.
Meanwhile, disruptive innovation is not only related to resources but also to people's thinking and beliefs. "There may not be a single engineer in the world who believes that it is possible to design an SOC chip using the fully custom method." Dr. Yang Zuoxing admitted that many shareholders still oppose struggling in this field.
Perhaps, as Steve Jobs said, "Innovation is what separates leaders from followers." When Yanjimu dives into a completely unfamiliar field with an extreme spirit of innovation, this company founded less than 5 years ago is also striving to become a leader in the industry. According to Dr. Yang Zuoxing's plan, Shenmu aims to sell 12 million cameras in 2025, 120 million in 2026, and 600 million in 2027. By then, the company may become the leader in terms of scale.