Drone makers in China have started to build an open platform in an effort to establish an industry ecosystem to attract the interest of companies and entrepreneurs, the Beijing Business Today reported.
The report said that the market attention to the sector has been drawn by the success of Shenzhen-based drone maker DJI, which got a 70-percent global market share in 2006 and grew 100-fold in the past five years.
According to the paper, some 300 to 500 companies in China are involved in the drone business, which include the military mapping company Zero Tech based in Beijing and Zongshen Power, a motor manufacturer based in Chongqing.
Yang Jianfei, Zero Tech CEO, said that drones have big sales potential in the consumer market and could help raise the company's annual sales from below 10 million yuan ($1.61 million) to hundreds of million yuan.
DJI Vice President Andy Pan, however, said that startup companies competing to gain market share and companies listed outside that are looking to get into the drone business could affect the sector.
The decision of DJI and Zero Tech to open a platform came after Ehang launched its platform for software development kit (SDK) in Aug. 2014, the newspaper added.
According to Pan, the open platform will enable users to build drones to suit their specifications, while analysts said that the platform will lure more developers and help develop the drone ecosystem.
The report said that DJI and private equity fund Accel Partners have set up SkyFund to develop new applications, such as in mapping and agriculture. DJI has also worked with Intel and Fudan University in developing a smart city solution to monitor illegally parked vehicles, the report added.
The technology background of a drone maker would be the key to attracting partners from other sectors, analysts said.