sinovels Chapter 48 Storm: Letters from Overseas
Chapter 48 Storm: Letters from Overseas
In early May 2017, a media storm descended without Su Chen's active involvement.
The trigger was Chen Hongyuan's thesis.
After the paper was published in the Journal of Agricultural Engineering, several financial media outlets focusing on agricultural machinery began to follow up and report on it. They soon discovered that the company behind the paper was none other than the small Shenzhen drone factory that "started with 120 million yuan" that Hardcore Innovation had reported on half a year earlier.
Thus, a new narrative thread was completed—
"From Aerial Photography to Plant Protection: How Hongyuan Flight Control SDK Covered Seven Agricultural Machinery Factories in Three Months" - This is the title of 36Kr.
"Open or Closed? Two Paths for the Agricultural Drone Market"—this is the title of Huxiu's article.
"A flight controller costs 3500 yuan; this company wants to be the 'Android' of the agricultural drone industry"—this is the title of Pencil News.
The metaphor of "Android" in the last title made Su Chen slightly angry—it was more accurate than any metaphor he could think of.
Because Android's logic is completely consistent with that of Hongyuan Flight Control SDK—an open platform that allows countless hardware manufacturers to develop products based on your system, using sheer numbers to compete against giants with closed ecosystems.
DJI is the Apple of agricultural drones. Hongyuan wants to be the Android of agricultural drones.
This narrative quickly went viral in the tech media world.
Because it touches on a narrative framework that fascinates all tech professionals—small companies using open models to fight against the closed ecosystems of giants. David vs. Goliath. Open source vs. closed systems. Wolves vs. lions.
Various headlines are flying around.
Su Chen did not offer any interviews. He only issued a brief written statement through Li Hao of Hardcore Innovation Network:
"Hongyuan's flight control SDK is now available for sale to all agricultural machinery manufacturers. Currently, we have seven hardware partners and over 300 commercial deliveries. We welcome more agricultural machinery companies to join us."
Brief, factual, and without any marketing rhetoric.
But its effects far surpass any other GG.
Because all the reports provided him with free publicity.
Within the first week after the statement was released, the flight control SDK page on Hongyuan's official website received over 10,000 visits.
There were thirteen new inquiry emails.
Eleven of them came from domestic agricultural machinery factories.
But two of them were not.
One letter was from Thailand. Another letter was from Indonesia.
Su Chen stared at the two emails for a long time.
overseas.
Hongyuan's flight control solution has attracted the attention of overseas companies.
Although they were just two brief consultation emails, their significance far exceeded that of the eleven domestic emails.
Because they represent that Hongyuan's flight control platform can go global.
Su Chen replied to the email from Thailand first.
The sender was a Thai company called AgriWing, which manufactures agricultural drones and has a certain reputation in the Southeast Asian market.
The email was simple: they had seen the English version of Pencil News reprinted and were very interested in Hongyuan's plant protection flight control SDK, wanting to know the technical details and cooperation model.
Su Chen searched through his memories from his past life.
Southeast Asia is one of the fastest-growing regions in the global agricultural drone market. Countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia have agricultural structures similar to those in southern China: rice-based farming, fragmented fields, and rising labor costs. The demand for agricultural drones is significant, but DJI's prices are too high for them.
Hongyuan's flight control SDK + local hardware manufacturer model may be more attractive to these markets than to China - because Southeast Asia has strong local mechanical manufacturing capabilities, but lacks flight control.
Su Chen did not immediately reply with a detailed plan. He simply sent a polite, test email, inquiring about the other party's specific needs and device specifications.
Then he called Shen Yumeng.
"Mr. Shen, we have two overseas inquiries regarding flight control SDKs. One from Thailand, and the other from Indonesia."
Shen Yumeng remained silent for two seconds.
"I suggest we don't rush into overseas markets. The domestic ecosystem is still under development, and our team and technical support system aren't yet ready to serve overseas clients simultaneously. However, there's one thing we can do—use these two emails as case studies to the media."
Su Chen thought for a moment.
Why?
"The fact that 'overseas companies are proactively seeking them out' is the strongest endorsement for domestic agricultural machinery manufacturers. Many domestic manufacturers are still observing the market; they need a signal that 'even foreigners are using it' to dispel their concerns."
Su Chen had to admit that Shen Yumeng's judgment on the psychology of communication was much more accurate than his.
"Okay. I'll have Li Hao handle it."
Two days later, Hardcore Innovation published a short article: "Hongyuan Flight Control SDK Receives Inquiries from Southeast Asian Companies, Plant Protection Flight Control Platform May Go Overseas."
The article is only a little over 300 words long, but the words "Southeast Asia" and "overseas" in the title are enough to ignite discussion.
In the drone industry, "going global" is a topic only companies of DJI's caliber can discuss. The fact that a flight control solution from a small Shenzhen company, established less than two years ago, can attract the attention of overseas enterprises is itself the best testament to its success.
The comments section is no longer just discussing whether "flight control platformization can succeed"—but has begun to discuss "how big Hongyuan's flight control platform can become".
"Even Thais are inquiring about it, don't domestic manufacturers who are still hesitant feel anxious?"
"The Android version of the agricultural drone industry is now recruiting 'application developers'."
"DJI should be starting to get nervous, right? They used to have no rivals in the agricultural product market."
Su Chen's expression didn't change much when he saw these comments.
He was more concerned about another set of data—in the week following the media report, there were nine new SDK inquiries. Seven of them came from domestic agricultural machinery manufacturers, and two came from Vietnam.
The flywheel started spinning.