RBCT Chapter 138 Flying Bird Technology Summit
Chapter 138 Flying Bird Technology Summit
In early November 2020.
In the first week after the launch of the Flying Bird Industry Alliance, the discussions within the industry were much more intense than Su Chen had anticipated.
On Zhihu, a post titled "How to evaluate the pricing strategy of Hongyuan Flying Bird Industry Alliance?" received more than 800 answers in three days.
The top-ranked answer came from a user with the ID "Low Altitude Observer":
"Let me briefly explain the three-tier pricing system of the Flying Bird Industry Alliance:"
Basic membership: Free, same as before, module purchase + basic SDK.
Premium Membership: Annual fee of 50 RMB, including customized flight control solutions, communication protocol adaptation, and industry solutions.
Strategic Membership: Annual fee of 200 million RMB, comprehensive technical cooperation + joint R&D + priority supply rights to Qixin MEMS.
My assessment is—Su Chen has gone mad.
What does an annual fee of 50 yuan mean? 90% of small and medium-sized drone companies in China probably don't even have a net profit of 50 yuan a year. Are you expecting them to spend a year's profit on a 'premium membership'?
A strategic membership of 200 million is even more outrageous. 200 million is enough to buy a small SMT production line. You're telling me to spend 200 million to buy a 'priority supply right'—a priority supply right for a domestically produced MEMS that doesn't even exist yet?
Compare it to DJI FlightCore—the SDK is completely free, technical support is free, and there are even hardware subsidies. The module is priced at 999 yuan, which is 300 yuan cheaper than the DJI FlightCore S1's 1299 yuan.
What is Hongyuan using to compete with DJI? A membership system with an annual fee of 50 yuan?
I really don't understand what Su Chen is thinking.
This answer received 3200 likes.
The second-ranked answer was completely different, from a user with the ID "Semiconductor Practitioner"—the same user who discussed the MEMS project earlier:
"What the person upstairs said makes sense, but it's not entirely correct."
Let's start with a fact—while DJI's FlightCore SDK is free, it has a fatal limitation: it can only be used on DJI-certified hardware platforms. In other words, if you use FlightCore, you're locked into DJI's supply chain.
Furthermore, the core selling point of the Flying Bird Industry Alliance is not the SDK or the flight control solution, but the "priority supply right for Qixin MEMS".
Everyone knows about Murata's supply disruption. Those in the industry are well aware of how fragile the MEMS sensor supply chain is. If Hongyuan can truly produce domestically made MEMS—the value of that priority supply right will far exceed 200 million.
Of course, this is all predicated on the premise that Hongyuan can actually make it.
That's gambling. Two million betting on the future.
If you win the gamble, you gain an alternative channel that is not restricted by the international supply chain.
If you lose the bet, you've wasted 200 million.
My personal assessment is that with the backing of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's major MEMS project and the joint research team led by Academician Zhou, the probability of Hongyuan producing domestically made MEMS is not low. But when it will be produced—that remains a question mark.
So whether or not this 200 million is worth spending depends on how afraid you are of the supply chain being disrupted.
Large companies will spend this money because the losses they incur due to supply chain disruptions far exceed 200 million.
Small companies won't spend it. Because they can't afford to gamble.
Su Chen was clever. From the beginning, he never intended for everyone to become a strategic member. He only needed a few major clients.
This answer received 2800 likes.
The two answers were diametrically opposed, and the comment section erupted into a chaotic argument.
Discussions on Weibo are more emotional.
"DJI is free, Harman Kardon is paid, is there even a choice?"
"Is Hongyuan trying to fleece investors? They're selling futures before even developing MEMS?"
"Support Hongyuan! Domestic MEMS needs financial support; 200 million is not a large sum!"
"Those who say 200 million isn't a lot, try putting 200 million out yourself!"
Public opinion was almost unanimously pessimistic.
But Su Chen didn't care.
Because he knew that public opinion was not a customer.
99% of the people on Zhihu who criticize his pricing as too high are not his target customers.
His target clients are industry-level drone companies with annual revenue exceeding 100 million yuan. For these companies, 2 million yuan is merely a strategic procurement budget—it doesn't even require the boss's signature; the procurement director can approve it.
And these companies are already on his strategic membership list.
……
On October 8th, Su Chen made a decision.
He posted an announcement on the official website of the Feiniao Open Platform—
"Flying Bird Technology Summit"
Time: March 2020, 10
Location: Shenzhen
Topic: The Next Step for Bird Ecology
The announcement was very brief, consisting of only three paragraphs:
"The Feiniao Technology Summit will be held in Shenzhen on October 28th. At the summit, we will release new hardware products for the Feiniao ecosystem and announce the complete technical service system of the Feiniao Industry Alliance."
"This is a product that can change the landscape of the industry."
That's all we'll say.
Three sentences.
There was no product name, no technical specifications, and no spoilers.
But the phrase "can change the industry landscape"—
It instantly ignited the industry.
"Reshaping the industry landscape? What is Su Chen up to this time?"
"Flying Bird S2? Or H-Link 3.0?"
"Could it be that legendary domestically produced MEMS? It can't be this fast, can it?"
Countless speculations emerged.
Su Chen didn't say anything more.
He simply returned to his office quietly and opened the product analysis system.
The interface of the virtual disassembly lab unfolds before your eyes.
Tonight's task isn't DRIE—it's another project.
A product he had been conceiving in his mind for two months.
Feiniao Industrial Gateway G1.
The product's positioning is very clear—it is not a module, not a flight controller, but an edge computing gateway.
It integrates an H-Link communication module, a flight control data processing unit, a sensor fusion engine, and an edge AI inference chip—all functions are integrated into a palm-sized aluminum alloy box.
Its target scenario is drone fleet management.
A single G1 gateway can manage the flight control data, communication links, and sensor information of up to 50 drones simultaneously.
For industry customers who operate dozens or even hundreds of drones—for power line inspection, logistics and distribution, agricultural plant protection, surveying and mapping—the G1 gateway is their "brain".
Without this brain, their drones are just a bunch of scattered soldiers fighting their own battles.
With this brain, their drones became a coordinated army.
Su Chen began building the architecture model of G1 in the virtual space.
Although the product analysis system did not directly provide the design blueprints for G1—because this product was conceived by Su Chen himself and not unlocked by the system—the virtual disassembly lab could help him quickly verify the feasibility of each technical solution.
He simulated 12 different antenna layout schemes in virtual space for the communication module and finally selected a dual-band MIMO design.
He ran hundreds of simulations in virtual space to develop the algorithm architecture of the sensor fusion engine, and finally determined a multi-source fusion scheme based on extended Kalman filtering.
For the edge AI inference chip, he chose the domestically produced Cambricon M220 – which has sufficient performance and costs only one-third of Nvidia's Jetson.
The total hardware BOM cost of the G1 was controlled at 3200 yuan.
The price – Su Chen set it at 9999 yuan.
The profit per unit is close to 6800 yuan.
What does a profit of 6800 yuan mean?
飞鸟S1模组的单台利润大约是400元。G1网关的单台利润是S1模组的17倍。
Moreover, the target customers of the G1 gateway are not small and medium-sized drone companies that are sensitive to price—but large customers such as Zhongyi Aviation, Southern Power Grid Intelligent, JD Logistics, and SF Technology.
For these customers, an edge computing gateway that can manage 50 drones at the same time costs only 9999 yuan—this is not expensive, it's cheap.
Their previous solution involved setting up an industrial control computer on the ground, along with a customized communication system and self-developed data processing software. The entire setup cost at least 5 yuan and was bulky and difficult to maintain.
The G1 gateway packs all of this into a tiny box, and it's plug-and-play.
9999 yuan?
It's practically free.
But for Su Chen, 9999 yuan × the purchase volume of a major client equals a considerable profit.
If Zhongyi Aviation's drone logistics network project is implemented—this single project alone will require at least 200 G1 gateways.
200 units × 6800 yuan profit = 136 million yuan.
This is just one customer.
If all eight strategic members start purchasing—plus more industry customers in the future—the G1 gateway could contribute tens of millions in profits annually.
In addition to the service fee income from industry alliances—
35 premium members × 50 = 1750 million.
8 strategic members × 200 million = 1600 million.
Annual fee revenue alone amounts to 3350 million.
This money will be entirely invested in MEMS research and development.
Su Chen completed the initial architecture design of the G1 gateway in the virtual space and then exited the system.
He glanced at the time—1:30 a.m.
Twenty days left.
Within twenty days, he had to complete the detailed design, prototype manufacturing, and small-batch testing of the G1 gateway.
Time is very tight.
But Su Chen's lips curled up slightly.
Because the G1 gateway is not just a product that makes money—it is a key turning point for Feiniao Ecosystem from "selling modules" to "selling the platform".
With the G1 gateway, the Flybird platform is no longer just a module supplier.
It will become an infrastructure provider in the field of industrial drones.
But infrastructure—that's something DJI can't do.
DJI's DNA is in consumer electronics, not industrial infrastructure.
……
The next morning, Su Chen sent the preliminary plan for the G1 gateway to Wu Zheng and Zhang Lei.
Wu Zheng replied quickly:
"Mr. Su, I've reviewed the proposal. Technically, there are no issues; our team can produce an engineering prototype within two weeks. However, there's one problem—the Cambricon Siyuan 220's delivery cycle is six weeks. If we want to release it on October 28th, the timeline is a bit tight."
Su Chen replied, "Mass production isn't needed at the time of release. We'll make three engineering prototypes for on-site demonstrations first. Mass production will begin after the release."
"clear."
Zhang Lei's reply was more direct:
"Mr. Su, I think the price of 9999 yuan is acceptable. But I have a suggestion—could we offer a special discount to strategic members at the summit? For example, could strategic members who make the first purchase enjoy a 8% discount? This would incentivize strategic members to participate."
Su Chen thought for a moment: "No discount. But strategic members can receive customized adaptation services for the G1 gateway—for free. This service is worth more than a 2% discount."
"Understood."
.......