bacchusnovels Chapter 56 Definition of Visitors
Chapter 56 Definition of Visitors
Mid-January 2017.
Within a month of its launch, the F3 has achieved cumulative sales of over 3,600 units.
This number put Su Chen at ease. Not because of the number itself—but because of its meaning: the F3's first-month sales exceeded the F2's historical peak, proving that the positioning of "work machine for county towns" was correct.
But Su Chen had no time to celebrate.
Because the reporters arrived.
Not one or two—but a whole batch.
The first person to contact Zhou Ming was Li Hao from Hardcore Innovation. He had previously written an in-depth report on Hongyuan's agricultural flight controller and now wanted to do a follow-up report on the F3.
Then there's Yuchen.com. Their previous comparison review of the F3 and the Falcon Industrial Edition sparked widespread discussion within the industry, and now they want to conduct a more in-depth interview.
Next came 36Kr, Pencil News, and Kuan Ke. There were even two traditional media outlets—Southern Metropolis Daily and Shenzhen Business Daily.
Su Chen had Zhou Ming arrange a time for them to meet with all the media in one morning.
It wasn't a reception—it was more like a small media briefing.
The location was an open space outside the factory. There was no podium, no projector, and no PowerPoint presentation. Su Chen stood next to an F3 computer placed on the flat ground, holding a bottle of mineral water in his hand.
More than a dozen reporters sat around folding chairs.
The first question came from a reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily:
"Mr. Su, the drone industry in Shenzhen is experiencing a severe wave of bankruptcies recently, with many small factories closing down. How did Hongyuan manage to survive?"
Su Chen thought for a moment.
"Because we are not a drone company."
The scene fell silent for a second.
The reporters exchanged glances. Not a drone company? Then what are you selling?
We are a flight control technology platform company.
Li Hao immediately pressed, "Could you explain in more detail?"
Su Chen nodded.
"The small factories that went bankrupt in Shenzhen were in the business of 'buying flight controllers → assembling the machines → selling the machines.' The flight controllers were purchased; there were no barriers to entry. When DJI raised the bar for the entire industry with the Mavic Pro, they were naturally eliminated."
"But Hongyuan is different. Our flight controller is written in-house. It's the core of all our products. It's used in the consumer-grade F-series, the agricultural SDK, and future industrial applications. The flight controller is the platform; the machine is merely the carrier."
"So when people ask us if we're afraid of DJI, my answer is—DJI is no match for us. They focus on the ultimate consumer experience, while we focus on work tools for small towns. They discarded the small factories that disassembled and reassembled modules, and we took the market share they vacated."
These words silenced the room for a few seconds.
Then a reporter from YuChen.com raised their hand: "Mr. Su, you mentioned the plant protection SDK and its future industrial applications. Could you elaborate on the current status of the plant protection SDK?"
"Yes. Our agricultural drone control SDK went on sale in March of this year, and in just six months, we've signed contracts with over fifteen agricultural machinery manufacturers. Toyota Agricultural Supplies has already signed exclusive distribution agreements in four provinces. We've also received inquiries from Southeast Asian companies."
"Southeast Asia?" The reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily's eyes lit up.
"Agricultural drone companies in Thailand and Indonesia need the same thing as domestic agricultural machinery manufacturers—a stable flight control solution, not a complete drone. We provide the flight control system, and they use their own airframe. This is the platform model."
A reporter from 36Kr picked up their pen: "So Hongyuan's business model is—to make the flight control system themselves and let others make the machines?"
"For consumer-grade products, we manufacture the machines ourselves. For agricultural applications, we do two things—sell SDKs to agricultural machinery manufacturers and also sell complete machines to end users. The industrial-grade products will likely have a similar structure in the future. The key is that flight control remains the core, while the application can be diversified."
This answer prompted all the reporters present to start taking notes rapidly.
Li Hao wrote a line in his notebook: "Flight control platform mode - Android for plant protection?"
The questions that followed became increasingly pointed.
A reporter from LeadLeo asked, "Mr. Su, to be honest, many people think that a small factory with just over 300 people making a 'flight control platform' is a bit... how should I put it, a bit ahead of its time. DJI has over 10,000 people, and Tianying has 3,000. No matter how good your flight control is, the size difference is there. What makes Hongyuan think it can accomplish this?"
Su Chen wasn't angry. That was a very good question.
"Because we don't need ten thousand people."
Reporter Yi Yin.
"The essence of the platform model is—keeping core capabilities in our own hands, while outsourcing other aspects to partners within the ecosystem. Our flight control team only has twelve people. But fifteen agricultural machinery factories use our flight control systems, and their combined engineers number over three hundred. Toyota has over three hundred dealerships, with a combined sales force of over one thousand."
"Therefore, Hongyuan actually mobilized far more than three hundred people. It's just that these people aren't on my payroll."
There was a three-second silence.
Then Li Hao smiled.
"This is what you meant by the 'wolf pack model,' right? I remember you mentioned that term at the plant protection exhibition before."
"Yes. A wolf pack isn't a single giant wolf. It's many wolves acting together. Each wolf has its own service area, but they all use the same flight control system. The updates, iterations, and optimizations of this flight control system are all handled by Hongyuan."
The reporter, who was entertaining the guests, interjected, "Couldn't the Skyhawk do the same thing? It could sell its flight control system to agricultural machinery factories."
Su Chen's answer was straightforward.
"No. Because the Skyhawk doesn't have its own flight control system. It uses a generic solution with its own parameter adjustments. This solution can be installed in its own machines, but it can't be made into an SDK and sold to others—because it's not its own product. It's not qualified to sell it."
"And we have that. Because every line of code in our flight control system is our own."
After those words were spoken, the sound of note-taking in the room noticeably quickened.
The Shenzhen Business Daily reporter asked one last question: "Mr. Su, what do you think Hongyuan will become in the next three years?"
Su Chen thought for a moment.
"Three years is too far. I'll only talk about next year. Next year, Hongyuan will have three business lines. Consumer-grade—the F series. Agricultural-grade—the flight control SDK ecosystem. The third one—I can't say right now."
"Could you give me a hint about the direction?"
"Industrial applications."
Su Chen only said these four words.
The reporters at the scene exchanged glances. Industrial applications. That means industrial inspection, power line inspection, pipeline inspection—those more challenging, more demanding, but also more profitable fields.
If Hongyuan can really enter this field, its valuation will be completely different.
After the media conference, Su Chen returned to his office.
Zhou Ming followed him in.
"Mr. Su, what you said today—flight control platform, wolfpack model, industrial applications—will be in the news tomorrow."
"I know."
"Aren't you worried that Skyhawk will follow suit after seeing these news reports?"
Su Chen shook his head.
"Let it follow. Flight control isn't something you can learn just by watching the news."