Tech giants start by disassembling systems

Chapter 107 The Boy Who Cried Wolf

When was it released?

Su Chen's voice was calm, but Xu Lang, who was sitting opposite him, noticed that his fingers, which were turning the page, paused for a moment.

"This morning at 10:00 AM, DJI's official WeChat account and website simultaneously released the information."

Xu Lang scrolled through his tablet screen. "The industry chat groups are in an uproar right now."

Su Chen quickly browsed through DJI's announcement.

DJI FlightCore opens its flight controller program, launching three standardized flight controller modules in its first phase.

FlightCore Lite: Priced at 699 yuan, it is aimed at entry-level applications.

FlightCore Pro: Priced at 999 yuan, targeting mid-range professional applications.

FlightCore Ultra: Priced at 1,499 yuan, targeting high-end industrial applications.

All three modules use DJI's self-developed A3 flight control chip, support RTK centimeter-level positioning, have built-in DJI visual obstacle avoidance algorithm (Ultra version), and provide DJI FlightCore SDK development toolkit.

The first batch of modules is available for pre-order starting today, with shipping expected to begin in mid-June.

Everyone is saying, "The wolf is coming!"

Xu Lang's voice was somewhat heavy.

Several people entered the conference room one after another—Wu Zheng, Fang Xu, Meng Xiaoying, and Zhang Lei, who had just returned from Dongguan.

Everyone's expression was not good.

DJI has finally made its move.

"Don't panic."

Su Chen closed his tablet, leaned back in his chair, and glanced at everyone present.

"Let's put our emotions aside for a moment and analyze what DJI's plan actually means. Wu Zheng, you start with the technical aspects."

Wu Zheng adjusted his glasses and opened his laptop. Clearly, he had done some preliminary analysis before coming.

"From a technical perspective, the hardware specifications of DJI FlightCore are indeed very strong. The A3 chip is DJI's self-developed flagship flight controller processor, which has been proven in the consumer market for many years, and its performance and stability are beyond doubt. The visual obstacle avoidance algorithm built into the Ultra version is a capability that our current FlightCore platform does not yet have."

"So, in terms of hardware, DJI is superior to us?"

Fang Xu asked directly.

"From a hardware perspective, frankly speaking, DJI has a deeper accumulation of expertise in flight control chips and visual algorithms than we do. After all, they've been doing it for fourteen years."

Wu Zheng did not evade the question.

"but--"

He paused for a moment and then opened the developer page for the DJI FlightCore SDK.

"The key lies in the software and ecosystem. DJI's SDK only provides two licensing levels—interface level and parameter level. There's no source code level, let alone an architecture level. In other words, customers can call the functions DJI provides, but they cannot modify the underlying logic, let alone do deep customization."

"This is consistent with DJI's usual style."

Su Chen nodded. "DJI's philosophy is—I give you the best products, but you must use them according to my rules."

"That's right."

Wu Zheng opened the licensing comparison table of the Flybird SDK and DJI FlightCore SDK side by side on the screen.

"The Flybird SDK offers four levels of licensing—interface level, parameter level, source code level, and architecture level. For large customers who require deep customization of flight control logic, such as those doing industrial inspection, logistics and distribution, or special applications, source code level and architecture level licenses are essential. DJI won't provide them, but we will."

"The second issue is price."

Xu Lang took over the conversation and pulled out a comparison table.

"The DJI FlightCore Lite is priced at 699, compared to our basic version at 499. The DJI Pro is priced at 999, compared to our advanced version at 699. The DJI Ultra is priced at 1499, compared to our professional version at 999. At each price point, DJI is 30% to 50% more expensive than us."

Can DJI lower its prices?

Zhang Lei asked.

"It's difficult."

Su Chen shook his head. "DJI's flight control chips and vision algorithms are good, but good things mean high costs. The wafer area of ​​the A3 chip is almost twice that of our HY-FC01, and the vision processing module is a separate cost center. I estimate that DJI's BOM cost is at least 40% to 50% higher than ours. They can only bring their prices down to our level if they're willing to lose money."

"And DJI never does business that loses money."

Wu Zheng added a sentence.

"The third question, and also the most important."

Su Chen stood up and walked to the whiteboard.

"Airworthiness certification."

He wrote these four words on the whiteboard.

"DJI's FlightCore announcement didn't mention anything about airworthiness certification. I just carefully reviewed their FAQ page, and the only sentence regarding airworthiness is: 'The relevant certification process is underway, and the specific timeline is to be determined.'"

"What does this mean? It means that DJI has not yet obtained airworthiness pre-certification."

"But DJI's brand influence and government connections should make the application process faster than ours, right?"

Meng Xiaoying raised a question.

"uncertain."

Su Chen turned around and said, "Airworthiness certification can't be accelerated by brand or connections. The Civil Aviation Administration's approval process is standardized, with clear technical requirements and timelines for each step. The reason we're ahead isn't because we have more connections than DJI, but because we started the process six months earlier than DJI."

"We expect to receive pre-certification by the end of June, while DJI's earliest is the end of the year. This six-month time difference is our window of opportunity."

"There's one more thing."

Su Chen returned to his seat and picked up a printed copy of the Flying Bird platform customer analysis report.

"To date, the Feiniao platform has signed contracts with 320 clients, of which 210 have completed the first batch of module delivery and begun product development. These 210 clients have already invested development resources in the Feiniao SDK—some have invested two engineers for two months, while others have invested an entire technical team for three months."

"What do these sunk costs mean? They mean they won't easily switch to DJI's FlightCore. Because switching means all development work has to be started from scratch, and all adaptation testing has to be redone. For smaller manufacturers, this is a fatal waste of time and money."

"Therefore, DJI's FlightCore primarily competes with existing customers who haven't yet signed contracts, as well as new entrants to the market. Existing customers, at least in the short term, are unlikely to change their focus."

Su Chen put down the report and looked at everyone present.

"To summarize, DJI's move was expected. However, DJI's solution has three shortcomings—a closed SDK, high price, and delayed airworthiness certification. Our strengths lie precisely in these three areas."

So, will this news have a significant impact on us?

"It has had an impact, but not to the point of shaking the foundations."

Su Chen smiled slightly and said something that made everyone present breathe a sigh of relief.

"DJI's FlightCore is just so-so."

The first laugh of the day finally broke the silence in the meeting room.

But Su Chen knew that the relief was only temporary.

DJI is DJI after all. Their brand appeal, technological reserves, and financial strength are far beyond what Tianying can match. FlightCore may have shortcomings now, but DJI has enough resources to make up for them.

Once DJI starts to take this seriously—lowering prices, opening up the SDK, and accelerating airworthiness certification—the competition facing the Flybird platform will be ten times fiercer than it is now.

The window of opportunity will not last forever.

Su Chen must make the bird's ecosystem irreplaceable before DJI makes up for its shortcomings.

"The next key point."

Su Chen's smile faded, and his tone became serious.

"First, expedite the acquisition of Zhongyi. Due diligence and legal work must be completed by the end of June, with a contract signed in July. Zhongyi's industrial assembly capabilities, combined with Feibiao's flight control platform, will create a complete supply chain advantage that DJI cannot replicate in the short term."

"Secondly, the development of the F5 cannot be slow. DJI's dominance in the consumer market is too strong. If the F5 merely matches DJI's performance, it's meaningless. The F5 must have a killer feature that DJI cannot provide. Fang Xu, you are in charge of this."

"clear."

"Third, the development of the H-Link communication module needs to be accelerated. Low-altitude communication is a larger market than flight control, and it's an area that DJI hasn't yet entered. If we can secure a foothold in the communication layer, the Flybird platform will not just be a flight control platform, but an infrastructure platform combining flight control and communication. DJI can't catch up in this dimension of competition."

Su Chen glanced around the conference room.

"DJI's entry into the market proves that the open flight control platform approach is the right one. If even DJI thinks it's worthwhile, then it proves that our direction is correct."

"The competition now is no longer between us and Skyhawk, but between us and DJI. Skyhawk is no longer important."

"From today onwards, Hongyuan has only one rival—DJI."

After the meeting, the others left one after another.

Su Chen sat alone in the conference room, watching the sky outside the window gradually darken.

DJI's entry into the market was something he had actually anticipated. After news spread that the Feibiao platform had signed more than 300 contracts in a month, DJI couldn't possibly remain indifferent.

But he didn't expect DJI to react so quickly. Less than six weeks passed between the release of the Flybird and the release of DJI FlightCore.

This shows that DJI actually had a plan to open up flight control long ago, but they thought the market wasn't worth it. The explosive growth of the bird model changed their mind.

Shen Pingchuan said DJI "doesn't care what others do"—that was a week ago.

A week later, DJI released FlightCore.

It seems that DJI's "lack of concern" is just an excuse for not cooperating with Skyhawk.

A faint smile appeared on Su Chen's lips.

It's okay.

He never expected there to be no competition.

The real question isn't whether DJI will come, but whether Hongyuan can outrun DJI once DJI arrives.

The first-mover advantage of the Feiniao platform, the time difference in airworthiness certification, the depth of SDK openness, and the cost advantage of the domestic supply chain—these are all moats, but moats are not permanent.

The only eternal moat is speed.

Su Chen took out his phone and sent a message to Wu Zheng:

"The technical plan for Flying Bird 2.0 has been launched two weeks ahead of schedule. I want to release it before the end of the year."

Two seconds later, Wu Zheng replied with a single word:

"good."