CEO of DJI Frank Wang admits software issues causes flyaways - P3 not perfect.

Joined
Jun 7, 2014
Messages
65
Reaction score
2
Very interesting article about Frank Wang, founder of DJI. For the first time ever DJI acknowledges in print, what a lot of Phantom owners have known: Phantoms fly away due to software issues. Also a lot of talk about Colin Guin's depart from the company. It's a bit Inspire related too, as CEO Wang admits to the Phantom flyaways, and since the new P3 and Inspire share software/app to some extent. He also says he didn't show at the P3 launch as he was not happy with the product?!?!? Go figure.
Very interesting read.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2015/05/06/dji-drones-frank-wang-china-billionaire/
 
  • Like
Reactions: GoodnNuff
Not sure what kind of CEO tells the media he does not like his own product...That just makes him look worse that he has no control over his company. I think DJI has some serious management issues and communication issues. For example, I got about 15 different reminders about the DJI Live event on the day of from different people in the PR department. That should not happen. Also, the P3 google ads were live the day before the launch.
 
"Sources also say that Guinn would often rush into setting up partnership agreements, particularly one with action-camera maker GoPro, which would have been an exclusive camera provider for DJI’s drones. Wang got cold feet in that deal and went against Guinn’s advice, subsequently angering GoPro, which is now rumored to be developing its own drone."

There is is folks, the reason why DJI won't be able to carry GoPro's, exactly what I thought.
Incompetant management and lack of entrepreneurship is going to be DJI's downfall.
 
"Sources also say that Guinn would often rush into setting up partnership agreements, particularly one with action-camera maker GoPro, which would have been an exclusive camera provider for DJI’s drones. Wang got cold feet in that deal and went against Guinn’s advice, subsequently angering GoPro, which is now rumored to be developing its own drone."

There is is folks, the reason why DJI won't be able to carry GoPro's, exactly what I thought.
Also the reason the 3DR Solo can get detailed metrics from the GoPro on board.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GoodnNuff
"Wang dismisses their [3DR's] chances, sounding something like the big kid on the kindergarten playground. “It’s easier for them to fail,” he says. “They have money, but I have even more money and am bigger and have more people. When the market was small, they were small and I was small, too, and I beat them.”"

That kind of attitude is why I think they don't really care that they're selling an unfinished product. First place is money, the customer is somewhere down the list.
 
There is is folks, the reason why DJI won't be able to carry GoPro's, exactly what I thought.
Incompetant management and lack of entrepreneurship is going to be DJI's downfall.

In context it seems that Quinn made that deal without discussing it with everyone else. It seems that he did things like this a lot.

Lack of entrepreneurship? DJI pretty much brought UAV's to the public. They are still on top. They will fall, every company does. However, I don't think that GoPro will be the reason why.
 
IMO, not perfect for him not necessary means it is a rush product or unfinished product. A item cannot be 100% perfect, otherwise there won't be any room for improvement.

In a business point of view, it think DJI is smart not to partner up with GoPro. Often when you deal with huge enterprises, you end up losing some control and say over your own product.
 
DJI pretty much brought UAV's to the public.

Mainly thanks to DJI NA, who almost made it look like a product from a US based company.
 
It sounds like he has a lot of the characteristics of modern successful CEO: unrelenting determination, ruthlessness and vision.

I don't think he admitted to any product defects. I think the author probably took liberties when summarizing the CEO's remarks in order to make the piece more interesting.
 
Having read the article a couple of times, I get a sense that Mr. Wang is told what he wants to hear. Very much like the story by Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor's New Clothes.

I think the Emperor is about to find out who he really is...
 
  • Like
Reactions: GoodnNuff
We think we know that Wang is no Steve Jobs, but even as **** as Jobs was, the final product was never as perfect as he wanted. There is a great story about the initial iPod launch: "The night before the first iPod launched, the Apple staff stayed up all night replacing thousands of headphone jacks because Jobs didn’t think they were “clicky” enough."

Perhaps Mr. Wang might want to read this article:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2011/10/04/steve-jobs-10-commandments.html#slide_7
Although tip #1 is try to be perfect and Wang declined to show up because it wasn't perfect enough.....

To be fair though, even if an Apple product was't perfect, it wouldn't fall from the sky and cost you $1500.
 
Did someone say that Frank Wang is Steve Jobs reincarnation??
 
from all reviews I have read the P3 is a big evolution ahead of P2V+ so I dont know how anyone can say its a bad product
 
To be fair though, even if an Apple product was't perfect, it wouldn't fall from the sky and cost you $1500.

It won't fall especially if you have headphones on, because that headphone jack perfected since that first iPod is the best headphone jack I've ever used on any product, even after two years of use on my iPhone 4. You could probably hang a Phantom from the ceiling with it.
 
My take away -

1. I'm something other than Steve Jobs, though I do respect him.

I wonder why journalists constantly play this kiss-the-ring of Jobs game while hundreds of geniuses of great worth continually crop up in the world. Jobs is freaking dead, get over it.

2. Perfection in craftsmanship innate to Japanese culture is considered virtuous.

3. Disagreement with Guinn/GoPro alliance - Why strap yourself to GoPro if your goal is to become number one in integrated aerial imaging (GoPro's goal is not serving that distinct market, they are primarily making a wearable camera with a fisheye lens).

4. They recognize customer service must improve to elevate their reputation and that China has business culture probs regarding quality and IP theft.

5. They're going to use their $$ and scale as a means to directly fight 3DR and any other players who want to give it a go.

Not sure why these beliefs are controversial to some. IMO, when the compact, large chip cameras (mFT?) are eventually released many will recognize that the GoPro separation was a wise move.
 
As Paul Harvey would say, "and now, you know the rest of the story".

Interesting read.
 
I agree with Tron_X's take-aways. I'm not sure why there's such a rush to demonize Frank Wang.

I would be more concerned if Wang had said the P3 was perfect. I'm glad he thinks it needs to improve.

Nowhere did I read that Wang compared himself to Steve Jobs. Seems to me he is trying to discourage that comparison, but there's something Frank Wang and Steve Jobs have very much in common: they created markets that didn't exist previously.

I couldn't disagree more when I someone says, "these are the same RC aircraft hobbyists have been flying for decades." Frank Wang opened up the drone market almost single-handedly with the Phantom. (And Colin Guinn.)

It's a Chinese product and it's brilliant. Customer service and innovation aren't considered to be Chinese strong suits, but that perception is starting to change. I'm glad to see Wang recognizes this.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,356
Members
104,934
Latest member
jody.paugh@fullerandsons.