In the Chinese city of Xi’an, Han Luyi runs a small store inside a shopping mall that sells drones made by the world’s biggest consumer drone maker. Shoppers stop by and ask questions: Why is this toy so expensive? Can a drone lift me up and make me fly? “Most Chinese people don’t know anything about drones,” said the 22-year-old Ms. Han, who opened the shop in August. Her store is one of the distribution partners of Chinese drone maker SZ DJI Technology Co., which controls roughly two-thirds of the world’s consumer drone...
As competition intensifies in the US, the world's biggest drone market with 700k sales, drone manufacturers view Asia as the "new frontier" as predictions of sales increase from the current 40k to 3.1m units by 2019. In an effort to educate Asian consumers, the world's leading consumer drone maker, DJI, valued at $8bn, is opening flagship stores, offering drone-flying lessons and building sales channels but the company needs to move quickly, according to analysts, before competitors also increase their presence.