In 2023, the competition of UAVs for plant protection will cease? The launch of new products was not surprising

Among the more than 3000 agricultural machinery categories in China, the plant protection UAV is a rare agricultural machinery category favored by industrial capital, financial capital, commercial capital and national industrial policies. During the boom period, there were more than 15 listed companies in the domestic main board market focusing on the concept of plant protection UAV. For example, Longxin GM's plant protection UAV concept for nearly 10 years did not produce a decent aircraft.

Note: The picture is from Dajiang WeChat official account

At present, the UAV for plant protection has passed the period of concept hype and entered the golden period of capital harvesting.

According to the data of the agricultural machinery subsidy system, the hardware output value of domestic plant protection drones is about 8 billion yuan/year, which has become the third largest category after tractors and combine harvesters. At present, the sales scale of plant protection drones of many agricultural machinery dealers is the same as that of traditional agricultural machinery and agricultural machinery products such as tractors and combine harvesters, while the profitability of plant protection drones is far higher than that of tractors and combine harvesters, This shows that the plant protection UAV has really entered the industrialization stage.

Dafengkou will form a siphon effect on resources. In recent years, well-known investment institutions and funds at home and abroad have continuously entered China's plant protection UAV industry, and well-known institutions such as Temasek and CITIC Capital have also made several rounds of additional investment, indicating that capital is optimistic about this industry.

Compared with the first round and the second round of investment peak, the investors in this round are stronger, with the participation of state-owned assets and local governments.

With the support of capital, the domestic plant protection UAV industry has experienced an arms race for nearly 10 years. It has experienced the first round of unbridled rush. At the break time, the main players represented by Dajiang seem to call a pause. The UAV industry is about to enter a new period of preparation. But the break in the middle court is not to be lazy but to adjust to a better state of competition. Here, let's look forward to a new round of domestic plant protection UAVs.

1、 The launch of new products in 2023 will be smooth

Note: The picture is from the official official account of Jifei.

In November 2022, Jifei took the lead in holding a new product launch conference as always. This year, the company's new aircraft are P100 Pro 2023 and V50 2023.

After the press conference, the old pilots sighed and were relieved. The reason for sighing was that there was not much new idea in this year's new aircraft, which made some technology enthusiasts a little disappointed. The reason for sighing was that the stability of the new aircraft should be reassuring, and the frequent introduction of new products was the root cause of frequent problems in plant protection UAVs.

Although there is no major innovation, the P100 Pro 2023 does have some practical improvements, such as the manual remote control, folding oar arm, split design, netless working mode (temporary area network), and doubled water pump flow. It can be seen that the future Polar Unmanned Airplane is more convenient for transportation, can work in more remote and isolated areas, and AB management can further improve the operating efficiency and simplify the operation.

Following Jifei closely, Dajiang also held its own new product launch conference in December, as if it had been negotiated. The two leading enterprises are both "old wine in new bottles".

The new aircraft in Dajiang this year is "stable". It is clear to the eye that T50 is an upgraded and enhanced version of T40. The structure has not changed much, but it does not mean that there are no improvements and highlights, such as the added binocular visual recognition, which is based on the core technology that Jimu is proud of. I really do not know how to face the future.

Now that it is mentioned, let's talk about the extreme. Jimu also released the new EA-30XP aircraft in November. If you have a good memory, you should remember that the new product of Jimu in 2020 is E-A202021 is EA-30X, and this year is EA-30X followed by a P, which shows that Jimu's new product this year is still EA-30X iteration, which can be seen that Jimu is also exceptionally "stable" this year, and of course, there are also some bright small improvements, such as the improvement of seeding system load and function Night flight system upgrading, etc.

Note: The picture is from Dajiang WeChat official account

In addition, Fengpeng 400, a new product of Tuobao Agriculture in 2023, will be upgraded to 35L medicine box, 55L broadcasting material box, flight control system, remote controller, and thickened motor shaft. In general, it is also "stable".

Of course, Hanhe and Qifei also deserve attention. According to the communication between the author and the relevant person in charge of Hanhe, Hanhe has not introduced new products this year, and I feel that this old UAV enterprise after Zhuhai Yuren is really dying.

Heilongjiang Huida Technology, a rising star in the UAV industry, launched HD540 in 2022. Recently, HD540 Pro has been released, which indicates that "stability" is also the focus.

Summarize the following major agricultural UAV companies' new products in 2023. The commonalities are:

First, "new wine in old bottles", focusing on upgrading and iteration of old products. This feature is very noteworthy, because since Dajiang entered the plant protection drone industry in 2016, the domestic plant protection drones have started a marathon arms race. The leading enterprises represented by Dajiang and Jifei have launched a new product every year. Many small brands and small companies without technical research and development strength have been dragged down and dragged to death.

In fact, users do not like the frequent introduction of new products by these enterprises. On the one hand, the performance of the new products is unstable, which makes Flying Hand bear the trial and error costs that should not be borne. On the other hand, the old products purchased in the previous year will be eliminated after the new products come out.

Second, product functions and advantages tend to converge, both of which are inclined to centrifugal nozzles. Visual recognition and radar obstacle avoidance are integrated. Functional convergence must be internal. In particular, we should pay attention to the unmanned aircraft in Dajiang. Dajiang was originally the object of imitation and reference in the industry, but in recent years, Dajiang has also learned from its younger brothers, such as Jifei, Jimu and Tuobao. What new routines and innovations do the younger brothers have, which are increasingly reflected in Dajiang's aircraft and marketing policies.

Third, both pay attention to live broadcast, orchard plant protection and other market segments. It shows that the competition of unmanned aircraft is becoming intense, and the field crops are temporarily saturated. According to insiders of Dajiang, in 2022, there will be 3000 aircraft operating in the orchard. In 2023, the market of Dajiang will focus on orchard plant protection and corn plant protection, especially transgenic corn, which will be the focus of the future layout of Dajiang.

Note: The picture is from the Jimu robot's WeChat official account

Fourth, from technology and function competition to marketing competition, for example, Jifei took the lead in introducing the replacement of old aircraft for new aircraft. No matter what brand of aircraft, it can be up to 6000 yuan. This policy is really sweet. I believe it will have an immediate effect on Jifei's sales, but several other brands, including Dajiang, were caught blind.