DJI's major releaases at NBA are great but taken together with the rumors about the Spark and the recent release of the P4 Advanced indicates that they want to take the WHOLE multirotor market from hobbyist right up to the high end professional market.

I think what they've done technologically, to date, has been nothing short of spectacular. However, I wonder about the move to occupy the entire spectrum of the MR market.

This is unusual to say the least as historically, a company seeking to play in the high end market splits into a division that caters to high end clients and a division serving the rest.

At the high end, people are able and willing to pay more but they also have much higher demands on personalized and high quality service. On this point, I think DJI has a sense of what it involves as clearly, they are getting business from heavy hitters and commercial operators. However, I think they aren't doing enough to differentiate the market segments when providing service.

Well, maybe we will see a split in the company the way Toyota created Lexus, Honda created Accura and so on. One thing for sure, there are enough people on these forum pages making comments that DJI cannot ignore about service timeliness and quality. I hope that management listens.

Sorry for omitting this earlier. I did not see DJI Joes post....

DJI has already thought of this issue. I kid you not. DJI Circle is their new elite service.

Lets hope they don't turn evil.....

And I swear my reference to Lord of the Rings was completely unrelated ....  This is scary....

Per your request:

You have an Corporate Identity problem and a Service problem.
And you have the question of Component and Knowledge Sharing.

In that sense your comparison with a car company is problematic. Do you want to spend a premium on a Porsche knowing that a good fraction of the car consists of Volkswagen parts? Also the sharing, a 400hp car and a 100hp car, both have four wheels but in reality things are very different. Interior same thing.
Hence it makes sense for a car company to separate.

I would rather compare with e.g. Nikon: Entry level cameras, semi pro and pro cameras. Lenses compatible with all three ranges. And industrial imaging. Nikon support and NPS (=Nikon Professional Services support).

DJI seems to implement a similar concept and it makes sense to me:

• Corporate Identity: No problem, not considered as cheap chinese copy shop but has a nice spread of products. Even a Pro might have a small and cheap drone for special occasions in addition, when that makes more sense than the heavy professional grade bird.
• An increase in service level is possible via the DJI Refresh program.
• For professional users you add a payed support program.
• Knowledge & Components can be shared, e.g. visual obstacle avoidance logic is the same. Gimbals, App, ESC, motor,...
  

They even managed to enter the consumer market with its unique challanges, so that problem is solved as well.

Hence no complaints about the strategy from my side.
Execution, well, there some things can be said about ;-)

WernerD Posted at 2017-4-24 06:28
Per your request:

You have an Corporate Identity problem and a Service problem.

OK - again, thoughtful points. Lets see how the market responds....