DJI, Insta360, and Dreame are engaged in a cross - border melee.

A cash - throwing spree has brought the boundary - less war among tech giants to the forefront.

On August 14th, the video of Liu Jingkang, the founder of Insta360 (hereinafter referred to as Insta360), throwing cash to employees at the company went viral on the internet, with a communication effect comparable to a multi - million - dollar marketing campaign. The capital market responded promptly. The next day, the company's stock price soared by 20% and hit the daily limit. Now, its market value has exceeded 100 billion yuan.

Of course, what truly propelled Insta360 onto the stage of a 100 - billion - yuan market value was not this high - profile cash - throwing event, but a major strategic move - the public beta launch of the panoramic drone "Yingling Antigravity A1". This indicates that Insta360 has officially entered the business territory of DJI (hereinafter referred to as DJI).

The war between Insta360 and DJI has been quietly brewing. On July 31st, DJI launched the panoramic camera Osmo 360, with the slogan "See the whole world in an inch", directly targeting Insta360's flagship product Insta 360 X5, which was launched in April. A few days later, Liu Jingkang "congratulated" DJI on the launch of its panoramic camera late at night on Weibo. He also said, "The fogging issue of DJI's product is just an isolated case. Please feel free to make your purchase." His words seemed polite and calm, but actually concealed a sharp edge.

Moreover, a more exciting "triangle battle" is taking shape:

On August 6th, DJI released the DJI ROMO sweeping robot, entering the highly competitive cleaning market. On August 20th, Dreame Technology (hereinafter referred to as Dreame) confirmed its official expansion into the drone business. It's worth noting that Photon Leap, an enterprise affiliated with the "Dreame system", also announced that it will launch an action camera in the second half of this year, aiming at DJI and Insta360.

Three companies that rely on cutting - edge technology in three different fields - the sky, the camera lens, and the ground - no longer seem content with their existing territories. With their respective technological genes, they are trying to invade each other's domains.

Tech Giants Turn and Attack Each Other's Core Territories

In terms of seniority, DJI is undoubtedly the eldest among the three giants. As early as 2006, it attempted to break into the drone flight control market.

In 2006, in a small warehouse of less than 20 square meters, Frank Wang and a few partners founded "DJI". With 200,000 yuan from his parents' support and a "technological obsession", he aimed to redefine the sky. Two years later, with the addition of his tutor Li Zexiang, DJI achieved a breakthrough in its business. The first relatively mature helicopter flight control system, XP3.1, was launched. When installed on a traditional helicopter model, it could hover in the air without human operation. The seed sown by Frank Wang in his youth finally blossomed and bore fruit. Later, DJI turned its attention to the consumer - grade drone market and gradually became the king in this field.

Now, DJI occupies more than 70% of the global consumer - grade drone market. Reports indicate that DJI's revenue in 2024 reached a staggering 80 billion yuan, with a net profit of 12 billion yuan.

In terms of the pursuit of technology and innovation, Insta360 and DJI share similar stories. Liu Jingkang, the founder of Insta360, has been fascinated by technology since childhood. He once almost got expelled from school for cracking the school website's loopholes to obtain the final exam papers, and he also became well - known for cracking the phone number of Zhou Hongyi, the chairman of 360 Company, through phone keypad tones.

In 2014, Liu Jingkang saw a 360 - degree panoramic video shot by a foreign team over Australia on the internet. The impact of the video and the novelty of the shooting angle greatly shocked him. At that time, manufacturers such as South Korea's Samsung and Japan's Ricoh had already launched panoramic cameras, but these products were cumbersome and inconvenient to use. In Liu Jingkang's mind, an idea of a panoramic camera that allowed users to take instant photos emerged.

In 2015, Liu Jingkang led his team to officially establish Insta360. One year later, the Insta360 Nano was born. A few years later, Insta360 defeated Samsung and Ricoh and became the world's top seller of panoramic cameras. In 2023, Insta360 held a 67.2% share of the global panoramic camera market and ranked second only to GoPro in the action camera market.

In June this year, Insta360 was listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Currently, its market value exceeds 100 billion yuan. According to Insta360's prospectus, the company's revenue in 2024 was 5.57 billion yuan, with a net profit of 990 million yuan. Although its overall performance scale is less than one - tenth of DJI's, its position in the panoramic camera and action camera markets cannot be ignored.

Dreame's story began with a more down - to - earth ambition. Yu Hao, a talented graduate from Tsinghua University, initially wanted to build the "fastest motor". After it was built, this motor became the core component of a vacuum cleaner.

In 2017, Yu Hao founded Dreame Technology. At first, it was an OEM manufacturer for Xiaomi, producing smart cleaning appliances such as sweeping robots and vacuum cleaners. After completing its primitive accumulation, in 2019, Dreame shifted to developing its own brand and voluntarily left the Xiaomi ecosystem. For vacuum cleaners, the motor efficiency directly affects the suction power. When the ceiling of domestic high - speed digital motors was only 20,000 revolutions per minute, Yu Hao developed a motor with 100,000 revolutions, comparable to international technology. Later, he and Dyson almost simultaneously broke through the 125,000 - revolution mark. Now, Dreame has risen from an OEM factory to become one of the world's top five cleaning appliance brands.

Reports suggest that Dreame's revenue in 2024 might have reached as high as 15 billion yuan. Although it is still far behind DJI, it has far exceeded Insta360.

Now, these three consumer electronics giants from different fields - the sky, the camera lens, and the ground - have stepped into the same arena.

This war of "invading each other's home bases" was initiated by DJI.

As early as 2019, DJI entered the action camera market and launched its first action camera, Osmo Action. In 2024, there were rumors that DJI would venture into the panoramic camera market. Insta360's counter - attack had been in the works for a long time. In 2020, Insta360 began to register patents related to "drones" and "panoramic drones".

In July this year, DJI launched the panoramic camera Osmo 360. Half a month later, Insta360's panoramic drone "Yingling Antigravity A1" started its public beta. This mutual attack was well within both sides' expectations.

For Dreame, it seems to be a story of passive defense.

In August this year, DJI's sweeping robot DJI ROMO was officially launched, bringing a new competitor to the already highly competitive sweeping robot market.

Interestingly, it was later rumored that Dreame was expanding into the drone business and poaching talents from DJI. This move was seen as a counter - attack against DJI. As for Photon Leap, an affiliated enterprise of Dreame, there have long been rumors that it will launch its first action camera in the second half of the year to compete with DJI and Insta360.

From a broader business perspective, this "you attack, I counter - attack" drama of "invading each other's home bases" is actually a manifestation of their long - simmering and eager - to - act ambitions.

Liang Zhenpeng, a senior industrial economic observer, told "Dingjiao One" that large enterprises usually choose diversified development. Although the fields of DJI, Insta360, and Dreame seem to have some span, they are all in the electronics industry. The core technologies of drones, panoramic cameras, and sweeping robots all revolve around perception, decision - making, and execution. "The technologies have certain commonalities, and the user groups also have some overlap."

Why Do They Invade Each Other's Home Bases?

Why do these three giants turn their guns on each other and engage in this "stealthy war of invading home bases"?

Firstly, with the development and maturity of underlying technologies such as navigation and obstacle avoidance, AI imaging algorithms, and high - speed motors, the industrial boundaries between drones, panoramic cameras, and sweeping robots are gradually disappearing. Liang Zhenpeng said that there are abundant industrial resources in these three industries in the market. "Whether they can succeed is one thing, but the entry threshold is not that high."

An investor told "Dingjiao One" that DJI, Insta360, and Dreame have all reached the top in their respective fields. With the incremental growth reaching its peak, it is inevitable to "reuse" their core technologies and seek new growth curves externally. Drones, panoramic cameras, and sweeping robots are all proven and viable tracks.

Take DJI as an example. Although DJI's dominance in the drone market is indisputable, it is also troubled by internal and external factors such as geopolitics and price pressure. With more new players entering the market, Frank Wang said as early as 2016 that the drone market was approaching saturation.

A report predicts that the growth rate of the Chinese consumer - grade drone market will plummet to 8% in 2025. For DJI, which already occupies 70% of the global consumer - grade drone market, the ceiling is just around the corner, and finding a new way out is extremely urgent.

Insta360's growth pressure has become more apparent after its successful IPO:

In 2023, Insta360's revenue and net profit increased by 78.2% and 103.7% year - on - year respectively. In 2024, the growth rates dropped to 53.3% and 19.9% respectively. In the first quarter of 2025, Insta360's revenue growth rate further dropped to 40.7%, and its net profit decreased by 2.5% year - on - year. Insta360 stated in its prospectus that if it fails to continuously carry out independent innovation and technological R & D, or if there are significant adverse changes in the sales price, the company faces the risk of a decline in gross profit margin.

When asked by the media why Insta360 chose to be listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, Liu Jingkang replied that the A - share main board and the Growth Enterprise Market have high requirements for corporate profitability. The Science and Technology Innovation Board is relatively more lenient. Even though Insta360 currently has strong profitability, it also needs to consider the practical impact of subsequent R & D investment for technology companies.

The subtext is that listing is not the end. Insta360 still has many battles to fight. Especially when its core business has been targeted by DJI, relying solely on defense does not guarantee absolute victory.

Therefore, for Insta360, whether from the perspective of active development or passive defense, the 100 - billion - yuan drone market is worth exploring. After all, its existing business can hardly support its 100 - billion - yuan market value in the long run.

Image source / unsplash

Dreame's troubles are somewhat similar.

According to IDC data, in 2024, the global shipment volume of intelligent sweeping robots was 20.603 million units. The top five sweeping robot brands, including Ecovacs, Roborock, Yunjing, Xiaomi, and Dreame, together occupied nearly 90% of the domestic market share. The aforementioned investor told "Dingjiao One" that the sweeping robot industry is falling into a "strange cycle" - "The sales volume and market share are increasing, but the company's profits are declining."

Take Ecovacs and Roborock, whose shipment volumes are higher than Dreame's, as examples. They are both facing significant profit - making pressure.

Ecovacs' net profit started to decline in 2022, and the decline rate in 2023 even exceeded 60%. In 2024, its revenue was 16.5 billion yuan, but its net profit was only 800 million yuan, less than half of its peak in 2021. Roborock's revenue increased by 38% to 11.9 billion yuan in 2024, but its net profit decreased by 4%.

In a similar situation, "expanding outward" has become the common choice of DJI, Insta360, and Dreame.

When some people question this cross - border expansion, "the universality of underlying technological capabilities" has become their common excuse.

For example, like drone products, panoramic cameras are essentially a combination of optical components and intelligent devices. When DJI shifts from drones to panoramic cameras, it can transfer its technological accumulation in the drone field to the software and hardware configuration of panoramic imaging.

The core functions of sweeping robots are mainly supported by three technologies: visual perception, precise positioning, and path planning. DJI's drone products operate in a complex three - dimensional space, and the technical difficulty is much higher than the path planning of sweeping robots on a two - dimensional plane. Many people believe that it is almost "effortless" for DJI to make sweeping robots.

However, although there are certain common technological logics in the visual system, stability, and algorithms among drones, sweeping robots, and panoramic cameras, there are significant differences in product form, target tasks, and consumer groups. The risks of cross - border expansion are not small.

The Strategies of "Invading Home Bases"

DJI's approach to making panoramic cameras can be summarized as "hand - to - hand combat" with Insta360.

The single - body price of DJI's panoramic camera Osmo 360 is 2,999 yuan, and the price of the all - inclusive shooting package is 3,799 yuan. The Insta 360 X5 of Insta360, which this product is targeting, currently has a standard package priced at 3,298 yuan and an all - in - one version priced at 3,998 yuan. It is not difficult to see from the pricing that DJI aims to gain an advantage in price, forcing Insta360 to respond by reducing prices.

A drone designer told "Dingjiao One" that DJI's Phantom series, launched 10 years ago, already had imaging highlights, and later it acquired the century - old brand Hasselblad. "DJI has certain technological foundation in making panoramic cameras. Its previous success in making action cameras also shows that the consumer groups of action cameras and panoramic cameras highly overlap." Under DJI's brand influence, a price difference of 300 yuan is enough to influence the consumption decisions of some consumers.

In the field of sweeping robots, DJI has adopted a completely different competitive strategy - targeting the high - end market.

The DJI ROMO comes in three versions: S (standard), A (advanced), and P (flagship). Taking the flagship version as an example, the price range of the standard and water - supply versions of ROMO P (after national subsidies) is between 5,779 yuan and 6,289 yuan. In comparison, the price range of the X50 Pro of Dreame's X (flagship) series, including the