The stock value skyrocketed by 40 billion in just three days. The maverick Liu Jingkang declared war on DJI, a company worth 50 billion.
In the short term, Insta360 only wants to grab a share of the market and neither wants to nor has the ability to overthrow DJI. However, in the long run, Insta360 will eventually become a comprehensive electronics giant, and its confrontation with DJI has just begun.
Unexpectedly, a scenario similar to what happened in Dubai has emerged among Chinese enterprises.
On August 15th, a video of Liu Jingkang, the founder of Insta360, throwing money to employees circulated online. In the video, Liu Jingkang stood on a high - floor and threw stacks of red banknotes to the employees downstairs, who reached out to catch the money.
Subsequently, Insta360 responded and apologized for the social and public opinion impact caused by this incident.
Liu Jingkang's generous act of throwing money was to celebrate the public beta of the "Shadow Feather Antigravity" product.
This is an important move by Liu Jingkang, and his target is DJI, a giant with an annual revenue of 50 billion yuan.
Declaring War on DJI
On the last day of July, DJI released the Osmo 360, an 8K ultra - flagship panoramic camera. In terms of function and positioning, it directly competes with Insta360's flagship X series, and DJI was the first to enter Insta360's territory.
In the consumer - grade drone market, DJI has achieved a dominant position. Combining data from TrendForce, Zhongyan Puhua Industry Research Institute, and Yiou Think Tank, DJI's share in the global consumer - grade drone market exceeds 70%, and some surveys even show it has reached 85%.
As early as 2016, Wang Tao said that the drone market was approaching saturation. So in 2019, DJI launched a series of action cameras, and later introduced agricultural drones, imaging equipment, programming robots, and recently even launched a sweeping robot.
In October 2024, the FCC test documents of DJI's Osmo 360 in the United States were exposed. By then, rumors about DJI's entry into the panoramic camera market had been widespread.
DJI, with an annual revenue of 50 billion yuan, won't be influenced by Insta360, but Insta360 will never sit idle. Insta360's official website states that in the global panoramic camera market in 2024, it had a market share of 81.7%, holding an absolute leading position.
Almost simultaneously, Insta360 registered an official Weibo account "Shadow Feather Antigravity". Fourteen days later, the panoramic drone Shadow Feather Antigravity A1 was released, and Insta360's counter - attack against DJI began.
The two gods in their respective niches have finally reached a stage of intense confrontation.
Actually, Insta360 has long been in direct competition with DJI. In 2023, Insta360 launched the mobile phone stabilizer Flow, which was a small - scale competition with DJI's gimbals.
Now, facing a strong rival, Insta360 needs to target the key point - the drone market.
The A1 is currently in the public beta stage and will be officially launched in January next year. However, this drone still deserves DJI's high attention.
Insta360 is not a professional drone manufacturer, but its panoramic camera software algorithms and imaging processing capabilities have obvious differentiations.
The A1 drone allows users to compose the shot after taking it. Users don't have to worry about missing the shot or flying repeatedly. Later, they can freely select the viewing angle from the 360 - degree image. Meanwhile, thanks to the capabilities of the panoramic camera, users can freely observe any aerial view without rotating or turning the drone. When used with the motion - sensing controller and FPV goggles, it can provide an experience like flying like a bird in the air.
The effect after its full - scale launch into the market is still uncertain, but the feedback from the capital market is positive.
After the release of the A1 drone, Insta360's stock price hit the 20% daily limit for two consecutive days, reaching a record high. Currently, its market value has reached 115.4 billion yuan, a surge of more than 40 billion yuan compared to before the drone's release. A PE ratio of 116 indicates that the market believes Insta360 will be a key player in the confrontation with DJI.
Since the public beta of the product has achieved good results, Liu Jingkang's act of throwing money is justifiable.
Keen on Throwing Money
As the first post - 90s founder on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, Liu Jingkang has typical post - 90s characteristics.
Liu Jingkang was born in 1991 and graduated from the School of Software at Nanjing University. During his college years, he was known as a "tech genius" and was famous as a technical expert.
In July 2012, Liu Jingkang created the "standard faces" of various departments at Nanjing University using 7,000 photos of his classmates. The concept of the average face of college students quickly became popular across the country. In the same year, he "decoded" Zhou Hongyi's phone number through the phone keypad sounds during a journalist's interview with Zhou Hongyi, which made him well - known for a while.
In 2014, Liu Jingkang accidentally saw a 360 - degree video shot by multiple cameras and processed by complex software. Then he had a new idea - to produce a panoramic camera that allows users to take instant shots. In that year, Insta360 was founded.
Liu Jingkang's early entrepreneurial journey was not smooth. In 2015, Liu Jingkang and his team moved the company to Shenzhen, trying to start over. This became a turning point for Insta360.
Shenzhen's unique supply - chain advantages have greatly benefited Insta360. "You can place an order for a circuit board prototype in the morning and pick it up in the afternoon." "Thousands of raw materials that originally needed to be sourced from all over the country can basically be obtained within a two - hour drive in Shenzhen."
This may also explain why companies like DJI and Yunjing have emerged in Shenzhen.
In 2017, Insta360 caused a sensation on the Internet with a panoramic video from an "eagle's perspective".
In 2018, Liu Jingkang established a partnership with Apple. Insta360 ONE was launched in Apple Stores worldwide. Insta360 became the world's first panoramic camera brand to enter Apple Stores. Subsequently, multiple products such as GO 2, ONE X2, and ONE R also entered the stores.
Apple has brought great help to Insta360. In 2019, Insta360's revenue suddenly increased by 127.9%. The prospectus before its listing showed that this cooperation revenue was classified as "buy - out distribution" and accounted for about 45% of its total revenue.
The cooperation with Apple has brought not only orders but also brand influence. Around the panoramic camera, Insta360 has gradually become the global king of panoramic cameras.
From 2021 to 2024, Insta360's revenue increased from 1.328 billion yuan to 5.574 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of up to 61.31%, showing a high - speed counter - cyclical growth.
Partnering with Apple was partly due to Liu Jingkang's luck, but more importantly, Insta360's products can meet Apple's high standards, which is the key for Insta360.
Liu Jingkang, who has been developing smoothly, has shown his "generous" side early on. He has attracted public attention more than once for distributing money.
Within Insta360, Liu Jingkang launched the "Million - Yuan Weight - Loss Program". Employees are rewarded 500 yuan for every kilogram of weight loss and fined 800 yuan for every kilogram of weight gain. Since its launch in 2022, this activity has been held for seven consecutive sessions, with a total bonus of nearly 2 million yuan distributed. In the latest session, 99 participants lost a total of 1,900 kilograms and shared a 1 - million - yuan bonus.
At the annual meetings, Liu Jingkang also likes to show his "generous" style. According to media reports, in the past seven years, Insta360 has given away a total of 27 new cars.
At the latest annual meeting, Insta360 distributed more than 1,800 prizes, including 50 - gram custom - made gold bars, iPhone 16 Pro, and Moutai liquor, with a winning rate as high as 77%. The "golden Enter key" given on Programmer's Day weighs 12 grams and is worth more than 7,500 yuan.
When ringing the bell on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in 2025, Liu Jingkang refused to use the traditional gong mallet and instead used the lens of Insta360's flagship product, Insta360 X5, to complete the ceremony.
According to Nancai Media, in this "money - throwing" incident, Liu Jingkang actually threw 2 million yuan in cash.
Although this money - throwing style may seem disrespectful to outsiders, employees have actually received the money, and there is nothing really wrong with it. Among them, Liu Jingkang's attitude towards the A1 drone is worthy of attention.
The Ceiling Is in Sight
The A1 drone is Insta360's counter - attack and a key step for its leap to the next stage.
In the first quarter of this year, Insta360's revenue was 1.355 billion yuan, showing a quarter - on - quarter decline for the first time in three quarters. The year - on - year growth rate was 40.7%, which is the lowest in Insta360's performance statistics.
In terms of revenue composition, the revenue from consumer - grade panoramic cameras was 1.153 billion yuan, accounting for 85.11%. For a long time, the revenue contribution of this main business has been very stable, almost always above 80%, and more than 85% in the past two years.
We can summarize Insta360's situation as follows: it relies on panoramic cameras, and its growth rate has slowed down.
Judging from the stock price, in the first two months after its listing, the market's acceptance of Insta360 was average, and its stock price fluctuated between 160 and 190 yuan.
According to analysts at Zhongshang Industry Research Institute, the global panoramic camera market was worth 5.85 billion yuan in 2024 and is expected to increase to 6.61 billion yuan in 2025. In 2024, Insta360's panoramic camera revenue had reached 4.789 billion yuan. That is to say, Insta360 has basically reached the industry ceiling and needs to expand the market and find new growth points.
To create more growth space, Insta360 needs to break out of the panoramic camera market.
This is a common problem faced by consumer electronics products. As early as 2016, DJI had paved the way in advance and began to explore handheld photography equipment. In other industries, Roborock has expanded into washing machines, and Dreame has explored hair dryers and water purifiers. Most enterprises will diversify their product categories after achieving the "from 0 to 1" stage, realizing the transformation from 1 to 10 or even from 1 to 100.
Insta360's exploration of other markets is a very smooth and inevitable transformation.
The drone market is the first, but definitely not the last market it will enter.
Choosing the drone market is the closest in terms of technical details. On the one hand, it can counter - attack DJI, and on the other hand, this market is larger and can grow faster.
Data from Fortune Business Insights shows that the global drone service market was worth $24.12 billion (about 173.3 billion yuan) in 2024. It is expected to grow from $32.08 billion (about 230 billion yuan) in 2025 - 2032 to $213.87 billion (about 1,536.6 billion yuan), with a compound annual growth rate of 31.1%. This market is dozens or even hundreds of times larger than the panoramic camera market, presenting huge opportunities.
Information from the National Intellectual Property Administration shows that as early as November 2022, Insta360 had begun to apply for a patent for a "panoramic drone". Now, it is just a natural extension of its early - stage layout.
Insta360 is not an experienced player in the aircraft field. What it has are software algorithms and imaging processing capabilities. It can record 4K videos with higher brightness and richer details in low - light environments.
In contrast, DJI has established industry barriers in flight control systems, image transmission technology, battery management, obstacle - avoidance sensors, and supply - chain integration. Its flight control system can achieve centimeter - level positioning and maintain stable flight in complex environments.
After the release of the A1 drone, Liu Liang, the general manager of Insta360, mentioned in his WeChat Moments, "We pay tribute to DJI, the world's best technology company! We have no intention and are unable to challenge its position. We just want to offer consumers another product option and provide another solution for the sky."
In the short term, Insta360 only wants to grab a share of the market and neither wants to nor has the ability to overthrow DJI. Even if the product is successful, Insta360 will still focus on its own strategy, with the main goal of finding new growth points. Once the drone market is established, there will be more products in other markets. In the long run, Insta360 will eventually become a comprehensive electronics giant. Since its core business overlaps highly with DJI's, confrontation with DJI is inevitable.