According to public reports, intelligent imaging technology company Insta360's (or Insta360, hereinafter referred to as Insta360) revenue skyrocketed last year, with revenue approaching RMB 4 billion in 2023, a nearly 100% increase year-on-year. On the product structure, products with operating income of 1-3 billion yuan were RMB 401/1,288/60 million respectively.
In 2021, Insta360's revenue exceeded RMB 1 billion, nearly 10 times the growth compared to 2017. The revenue exceeded RMB 2 billion in 2022, and last year it increased to nearly RMB 4 billion, doubling for two consecutive years. Compared with other Shenzhen-based companies in the field of smart hardware, DJI achieved annual revenue of RMB 9.78 billion 10 years after its establishment, and Anker Innovations Technology achieved annual revenue of RMB 9.353 billion 9 years after its establishment. If Insta360 maintains its current revenue growth rate, it is expected to reach this level within 2 years, joining the billion-yuan club in about 10 years.
Double revenue for two consecutive years, the new force in imaging technology is popular globally.
Insta360's main business is intelligent imaging products such as panoramic cameras and sports cameras, established in Shenzhen in 2015. According to Frost & Sullivan, Insta360 has been the global market leader in panoramic cameras for five consecutive years, with a market share of over 50%. In the global sports camera market, it ranks second, with a market share directly following traditional giant GoPro, forming a market pattern of two giants.
It is understood that in 2023, Insta360's overseas market revenue accounted for about 80%, and the global layout continued to be consolidated. Mainly focused on the European, American, and Japanese and South Korean markets, and the Korean market has grown rapidly, with doubling shipments last year. Insta360 has established a complete online and offline sales system, with online channels including official Insta360 stores, and well-known e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Lazada, Tmall, and JD; offline, it has a sales network covering more than 60 countries around the world. Since 2016, Insta360 has cooperated with Apple and is the world's first panoramic camera brand to enter the Apple Store. The X series, ONE R series, Ace Pro series, GO series, and Flow AI mobile phone stabilizer have all entered Apple Store.
According to a Frost & Sullivan report, the global sports camera market will grow to RMB 46 billion by 2026. Compared with Insta360's rapid growth, traditional sports camera giant GoPro is gradually declining. GoPro's 2023 financial report shows that the company's revenue last year was USD 1 billion, an 8% year-on-year increase. However, its profit turned from positive to negative, with a loss of USD 53 million in 2023, a 284% year-on-year decrease.
Expand multiple product lines and speed up the layout of AI imaging functions.
With the mission of helping people better record and share life, Insta360 is also actively expanding its product line, including not only panoramic cameras and sports cameras, but also thumb cameras, video conferencing cameras, AI mobile phone stabilizers, and other intelligent imaging products.
Among them, the Ace Pro series is co-developed with Leica, equipped with a 5nm AI chip, and is the first all-in-one wide-angle sports camera launched by Insta360. The GO series thumb camera is Insta360's first creation, currently updated to the fourth generation GO 3S, with 4K ultra-high-definition picture quality, and can be worn at any time and place to shoot first-person and various novel perspectives of Vlog, completely freeing both hands and achieving a sense-free shooting. The Flow series mobile phone stabilizer is based on Insta360's accumulation of AI image technology for many years, and the new product also integrates Apple's DockKit protocol, which can directly call the iPhone's native camera, allowing the phone to become an AI photographer in seconds.
With the development of computer photography technology, in addition to picture quality, anti-shake, and portability, the second half of the sports camera field has begun to focus on intelligence. Since 2018, Insta360 has begun to invest in AI technology research and development, independently developed multiple AI imaging functions, such as AI editing, automatic framing, and depth tracking, and invested more than RMB 100 million in R&D expenses each year in recent years. The proportion of research and development personnel is nearly 50%. Earlier, one of the most influential commercial media in the United States, Fast Company, released the 2024 global innovative company list, and Insta360 made the list with its innovative imaging technology and products, ranking among the top three in the consumer electronics field.
The field of imaging used to be a stage where Japanese and European and American brands sang solo, but Insta360 cut into the market with panoramic cameras and continuously expanded new product lines around outdoor sports, life recording, video conferencing, mobile phone photography, etc. It is sold well in more than 200 countries and regions, with millions of hardware users, and has become a portrayal of domestic technology brands defeating overseas giants and rising strongly.