With their headquarters in Shenzen, Guangdong, the Chinese technology company DJI has taken over the world of drone technologies.  They have manufacturing facilities all over the world and control 70% of the drone market.  They dominate in the design of drones and all the accessories needed to use drones like flight control systems, propulsion systems, cameras, camera gimbals and stabilizers, and flight platforms.  If you are drone enthusiast, owning a DJI drone is often the goal. 

In 2006 Frank Wang founded and named the company Dà-Jiāng Sciences, latter changing it to Dà-Jiāng Innovations, where the initials DJI come from.  The name comes from a Chinese phrase that means great ambitions have no boundaries, which Wang has clearly proven to be the case.  In 2005 Wang was awarded a grant from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to build a drone.  It was in his dorm room at HKUST where Wang first began the foundations of DJI.  According to DJI’s website their philosophy is based on the principle of “form follows function, our products combine advanced technology with dynamic designs.”

Making their headquarters in Shenzen, considered the Silicon Valley of China, has allowed Wang’s company to fully embrace form follows function.  Because of this location DJI has access to the most creative and innovative minds in China’s drone technology market.  They are also perfectly located to have access to all of the raw materials needed in their design concepts, of which there are many. They are best known for their Mavic and Phantom drone series, but that isn’t what initially set them apart from the drone pack.

One of DJI’s first big successes came from the creation of an advanced GPS system.  Before this a drone operator had no way of knowing exactly how the drone was positioned when in flight, limiting it’s stability and flight pattern.  DJI came up with a working means of having an onboard GPS compass system which not only made the drones easier to fly, but safer as well.  Another big breakthrough came when they launched their Lightbridge transmission system.  Before Lightbridge a drone operator was not able to view the footage their drone was capturing until it was grounded and uploaded.  Lightbridge is what allowed drone pilots to see what their drone was seeing in a high definition real time transmission.

Now DJI is dominating the drone market.  They have seven different drone series, all of which have multiple options.  Their drones have the option to be equipped with five different types of cameras to meet any photography or filming needs.  DJI drones are being used commercially by search and rescue teams, energy infrastructure professionals, conservationists, and agriculturists.  They even won a Technology and Engineering Emmy in 2017 in recognition of the filming they were used for in such TV shows like America Ninja Warrior, Better Call Saul, The Amazing Race, and Game Of Thrones.  They are also the number one selling drone for noncommercial hobbyists.

When Frank Wang was younger he simply had an interest in drone technology.  That interest continued to blossom to the point he was awarded that life changing grant to research and develop his own drone.  Now, his privately owned company is the largest drone company in the world.