Insta360 and DJI in Intense Competition: From Fierce Price Wars to Stealthy Research Report Battles
In Shenzhen Bay in July this year, two press conferences held three days apart quietly reshaped the global intelligent imaging market landscape.
On July 28, Insta360 announced the launch of the world's first panoramic drone, Antigravity, officially knocking on the door of the drone market dominated by DJI. Three days later, DJI released the panoramic camera Osmo 360, pricing it at 2,999 yuan and dethroning Insta360's flagship X5.
This offensive and defensive battle escalated completely during the Double 11 promotion season three months later. When DJI slashed the price of the Pocket 3 by 900 yuan and the Action 4 by 1,129 yuan, Liu Jingkang wrote thought-provoking words on his WeChat Moments: "In the consumer electronics industry, the only king capable of achieving a monopoly is unprecedented."
On November 4, Insta360 held a performance briefing for the third quarter, stating that "the price competition initiated by competitors has created conditions for market expansion" and strongly clarifying the rumor that "its market share plummeted from 92% to 49%".
DJI's "Blitzkrieg" and Insta360's "Defensive Tactics"
DJI's price offensive has obvious strategic intentions. The Osmo 360 it launched directly competes with Insta360's X5 in core parameters. It also supports native 8K panoramic video and 120-megapixel photos, but is priced precisely at 2,999 yuan, exactly 800 yuan lower than the Insta360 X5.
This "hand-to-hand combat" style of pricing was repeated in September. After the national subsidy was added to the Osmo Nano, which competes with Insta360's GO Ultra, the price gap widened to 900 yuan. The price cuts during the Double 11 period were even more radical. Data from DJI's official JD.com store showed that the price of the Pocket 3 gimbal camera was directly reduced by 900 yuan, and the price of the Action 4 action camera was cut by 1,129 yuan.
In response, DJI officially downplayed it as a "regular promotion", but industry insiders pointed out that price cuts of this scale are extremely rare in DJI's history. Data monitored by UBS showed that in the third quarter, the download volumes and monthly active user numbers of the official apps of Insta360 and DJI in major global markets increased significantly year-on-year, and the growth curve in the Chinese market was almost "vertically upward".
To cope with the impact of the price war, Insta360 launched the X4 Air panoramic camera before Double 11, lowering the price of its entry-level product to 2,399 yuan. At the same time, it strengthened its differential advantages: replaceable lens design, panoramic cloud storage service, and AI automatic editing function, forming a defensive system of "affordable basic functions and differentiated high-end functions".
Facing an opponent 14 times its size (DJI's revenue in 2024 was 80 billion yuan, while Insta360's was 5.574 billion yuan), Insta360's response demonstrated the flexibility of a startup. On October 29, Liu Jingkang posted on his WeChat Moments, implying DJI's monopoly. The comment said "in the consumer electronics and consumer goods industries, the only king capable of achieving a monopoly is unprecedented and will be unparalleled in the future".
However, at the performance briefing on November 4, Liu Jingkang put forward the "market expansion theory", interpreting DJI's price war as an opportunity for industry growth. He said that "the price competition initiated by competitors after entering the panoramic camera market has created conditions for market expansion" and that "more and more consumers are choosing Insta360 because of its differential advantages".
The essence of the price war is a contest of cost control ability. With a revenue of 80 billion yuan and a net profit of 12 billion yuan last year, DJI has the confidence to bear short-term profit sacrifices. In the same period, Insta360's revenue was 5.574 billion yuan and its net profit was 995 million yuan. Facing an opponent more than ten times its size, the pressure on Liu Jingkang is imaginable.
Fortunately, compared with other consumer electronic products, panoramic cameras have a relatively high premium rate. The third-quarter report showed that Insta360's gross profit margin was as high as 49.63%. Although it declined compared with last year's 52.2%, there is still a large profit margin. This means that the intensity of the current "price war" is still acceptable, and there will be no situation of "selling at a loss".
"Raiding Each Other's Homes": Strategic Anxiety Behind Cross-Border Moves
On July 28, the launch of the Antigravity brand marked Insta360's official entry into DJI's core territory. This product, which Liu Jingkang called a "flying panoramic eye", carries Insta360's hope of breaking through the growth ceiling. Currently, consumer-grade panoramic cameras account for more than 80% of Insta360's revenue, and the risks brought by over-reliance on a single category are becoming increasingly prominent.
Insta360's cross-border strategy deliberately avoids direct conflict with DJI. Liu Jingkang publicly stated that "the company's decision to enter the drone market was based on the unmet needs of customers, the incremental market space, and the potential to drive the company's growth." He also mentioned that "the decision to enter the drone market was made five years ago".
On August 14, the Antigravity A1 officially started its global beta test. This product features a composite function of "panoramic + follow-shot", weighs less than 250 grams, and targets the Vlog creator group, forming a dislocation with DJI's product line that focuses on flight performance. After the product was launched, Insta360's stock price rose by the daily limit of 20% for two consecutive days, and its market value exceeded 100 billion yuan.
Insta360 disclosed in its third-quarter report that the beta test of the Antigravity panoramic drone is coming to an end, and it is initially expected that the product will be available for trial sales in some regional markets in the fourth quarter of 2025.
DJI's coveting of the panoramic camera market has long been foreshadowed. According to Frost & Sullivan's data, the global panoramic camera market size was 5.03 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 21.79%, and is expected to reach 7.85 billion yuan in 2027. Insta360 has a market share of nearly 70% in this field. For DJI, which is seeking a new growth curve, this is undoubtedly an attractive cake.
Only three days after Insta360 launched the Antigravity brand, DJI launched the panoramic camera Osmo 360. The rapid growth of the Osmo 360 exceeded market expectations. Data from the Jiuqian Middle Platform showed that in its first quarter, it captured 43% of the global panoramic camera market share, and in the domestic e-commerce market, its GMV accounted for as much as 49%.
DJI's channel advantage has become a key driving force. Its more than 2,000 offline experience stores globally allow consumers to directly experience the panoramic shooting effect, which is a long-term weak link for Insta360. More notably, DJI has started the research and development of panoramic drones, planning to replicate its "dimensionality reduction strike" in the camera field.
Under the situation of the two giants competing, small and medium players in the industry are being squeezed. The experience of HoverAir is quite representative. Its X1 Smart drone opened up the market with its lightweight design of 99 grams, and its sales exceeded 150,000 units in 2024. However, the Neo 2 drone launched by DJI on October 30, with a 151-gram body and a price of 1,499 yuan (only 60% of HoverAir's), precisely targeted it, and even the product positioning of a "flying follow-shot photographer" was highly similar.
The decline of traditional giant GoPro is even more of a warning. From 2022 to 2023, GoPro ranked first with its HERO series, with a global market share of over 75%. However, by 2025, its revenue share in the global market had gradually shrunk to 18%. Caught between Insta360's technological innovation and DJI's price advantage, this once industry benchmark is being gradually marginalized.
Industry insiders predict that in the next three years, the global intelligent imaging market will present a pattern of "dominated by two giants and long-tail survival".
The Mystery of Market Share: The Contradictory Pictures in Two Reports
At the end of October, the release of two third-party reports shocked the industry. Data from the Jiuqian Middle Platform showed that in terms of revenue in the global panoramic camera market in the third quarter, Insta360's market share plummeted from 85% - 92% to 49%, while DJI emerged suddenly, following closely with 43%.
However, the white paper released by Frost & Sullivan later presented a completely different picture: Insta360 still led the panoramic camera field, ranking first with a global share of 75%, while DJI only had 17.1%.
The core of the data contradiction lies in the difference in statistical caliber. Jiuqian admitted in the report's annotation that the data was an "estimated value based on the e-commerce GMV trend", and the research scope was limited to consumer-grade wide-angle and panoramic cameras, excluding categories such as Vlog cameras and thumb cameras. Insta360 directly questioned the "accuracy, completeness, and authority" of some third-party data at the performance briefing.
The repeated offline of the Frost & Sullivan report added more mystery. After the report was first released on October 30, it was quickly taken offline, re - uploaded after adding remarks, and taken offline again on November 3 due to "internal verification". Some industry insiders revealed that this anomaly may be related to the adjustment of the data statistical scope. It is worth noting that the competition situation between the two in the action camera field is relatively clear: in the third quarter, Insta360 ranked first with a 38.6% share, followed closely by DJI with 34.6%, and the gap is gradually narrowing.
This data dispute reflects the subtle changes in the market pattern. In terms of shipment volume, DJI did achieve rapid growth with its low - price strategy, and its 37.1% share in the Chinese market in the third quarter confirmed the effectiveness of the price war. However, from the revenue perspective, Insta360 still has an advantage. The average price of high - end models such as the X4 Air is 3,500 yuan, while the average price of DJI's Osmo 360 is only 2,900 yuan. The revenue gap caused by the price difference cannot be completely made up by the sales volume.
The financial reports of listed companies provide a more reliable reference. Insta360's revenue in the third quarter was 2.94 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 92.64%, still remaining at a high level. This means that even in the face of DJI's price war, Insta360's core business is still expanding, which contrasts sharply with the description of "a sudden drop in market share" in the Jiuqian report.
When Insta360's panoramic drone completed its first flight test over Shenzhen Bay, in DJI's laboratory, a new - type drone equipped with a panoramic lens was undergoing a wind - tunnel test. This "arms race" in the intelligent imaging field is essentially a microcosm of the evolution of Chinese technology companies from "single - point breakthrough" to "ecosystem competition".
The price war will eventually end, and the data dispute will also subside, but the competition for the market will not stop. For consumers, the competition between the two giants brings better products and more reasonable prices; for the industry, this healthy competition is pushing the Chinese intelligent imaging industry to a higher level.
As Liu Jingkang wrote in another post on his WeChat Moments: "The top runners in a marathon are top - level athletes, and you will also run faster."
This article is from the WeChat official account "Cai Neng Quan", author: Jabin, published by 36Kr with permission.