The Uptake | Shared advantage

DJI and Insta360 compete in overlapping hardware categories, and their rivalry has extended to patent disputes. Their headquarters are also only a short drive apart in Shenzhen.

They have plenty of company. Across the city’s hardware belt, businesses making cameras, batteries, robots, and 3D printers operate within easy reach of one another. Few places offer such a concentration of engineers, component suppliers, prototyping services, and manufacturers.

Building a working prototype is only the beginning. Producing thousands of units can expose problems that were less obvious when making one. A component may be difficult to source in sufficient quantities. An assembly process may need simplifying. Solving those problems often requires designers and manufacturing specialists to work through changes together.

Shenzhen makes it easier to find that expertise nearby. Some companies are close enough to share an elevator. Robotics companies EngineAI and Astribot, for example, occupy different floors of the same office tower. Proximity does not necessarily mean collaboration, but it illustrates how concentrated the industry has become.

Insta360’s own history illustrates the appeal. It moved to Shenzhen in 2015 after encountering difficulties scaling up production of optical modules for its panoramic cameras. The local supply chain helped it address that bottleneck.

The city’s pool of expertise also expands as people move between companies or start their own. EcoFlow’s founder previously worked in DJI’s battery division, while Bambu Lab’s founding team came from DJI’s consumer drone business. Both went on to build companies in different product categories while remaining in Shenzhen.

An employee’s departure can mean a loss of experience for one company while adding to the range of businesses nearby. Suppliers gain potential customers, and engineers gain more places to apply their skills.

Over time, these connections give new companies reasons to remain in Shenzhen, including those competing with established players. They can tap production expertise, supplier networks, and industry relationships that would take time to build elsewhere.