Yuneec-the first competitor to threaten DJI's position?

2015-12-27

More and more people are in contact with or have heard from drones. Anyone with a minimal interest in drones will be familiar with the DJI brand and its products: Phantom, Inspire, S900/S1000, Matrice. DJI is the undisputed leader in multi-rotor sales in the civilian drone market. Investing a large sum of profits in marketing and R&D, it continues to improve its products and introduce new ones. The latest Phantom and Inspire models are equipped with DJI cameras with 4K resolution. In addition, they have become a new competitor in the sports camera market by releasing the DJI OSMO, a GoPro-style camcorder with a convenient handheld gimbal, with a stylish carrying case, and the ability to view the recorded footage on your phone. DJI is moving forward, expanding. It may seem that their leadership position in the drone market is unquestioned, and yet...

Their domestic competitor, wants to take over the baton of market leadership and is getting closer to doing so. Yuneec International, as they are referred to is a Chinese aircraft manufacturer. The company made a name for itself as a manufacturer of radio equipment, for steerable aircraft. Intel invested $60 million(approximately 232 million zlotys) at Yuneec. In an official statement, CEO Brian Krzanich wrote: "We believe that drones have the potential to positively change lives in many ways, whether by delivering consumer goods or monitoring disaster sites. With the upcoming addition of Intel Inside technology, Yuneec smart drones can create amazing opportunities". Intel, by investing in Yuneec, has indicated a future market leader, as technology transfer between the companies is currently taking place, which will translate into even more technically advanced products in the near future.

But what does Yuneec want to threaten DJI with?? Or rather, he has already threatened to, now Yuneec enters the Polish market where the fight for the Polish customer will begin. We are talking about the models Typhoon Q500 4K, and Tornado H920.

Typhoon Q500 4K

The price of the drone is comparable to the rival Phantom but it comes with two batteries, a handheld gimbal that, when the 4K camera is removed from the drone, turns into a handheld stabilizer that allows you to record gorgeous footage on land. Yuneec sells its kits only in convenient cases the price of such a model is 5788zł! That is, it has much more and is cheaper than its competitor. When someone has a GoPro-type camera, Yuneec offers a kit Yuneec Q500-G, which is specially prepared for such customers. This brings the price of the drone down to £3975.

Yuneec Tornado H920

In the higher range of drones designed for companies involved in filming, photography and aerial observation, Yuneec also offers its solutions that can easily compete with DJI S900/ S1000. Tornado is a hexacopter meaning it offers us 6 engines, which we know is safer compared to a quadrocopter. When one of the engines fails the built-in system allows you to continue flying safely. All still tightly encased which is a big plus. The platform itself is very stable during flight. Weight with batteries does not exceed 5 kilograms. The clear ST24 instrument cluster you see below makes flying very enjoyable and transparent, all flight parameters are visible. The fixed screen avoids the problem of plugging it in before each flight and the possible discharge of the screen. Once we arrive on site, we can start recording in a few minutes, which is a very important aspect when it comes to observing the area.

There are up to 3 versions to choose from:

Hexacopter Yuneec Tornado H920 with GB603 gimbal - gimbal suitable for mounting Panasonic Lumix GH4
Hexacopter Yuneec Tornado H920 with V18 camera - offers in ready-to-use, high-quality stabilized camera with 18x optical zoom. V18 allows for clear, high-quality video. Flight time with 3 packages installed can be as long as 40 minutes!
Hexacopter Yuneec Tornado H920 with CGO4 camera - includes an apparatus based on GH4 with 3x optical zoom. All camera settings can be controlled remotely at will via the ST24 transmitter. Through the ST24's user-friendly control application interface, the CG04 becomes an amazing tool for realizing the highest levels of antenna photographic and video imaging.

The models, depending on the camera, can be used in the film industry or for observations where a lot of image zoom is required. In the former case, a huge advantage of the H920 is the gimbal ProAction allowing the camera to be used when recording from the ground.

Time will tell if Yuneec will become a leader in the drone market and how it will be accepted in the Polish market.

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