With a revenue of 2 billion yuan a year, a small overseas giant gives Porsche to its employees

Some people say that GoPro holds up half of the extreme sports camera industry.

Whenever we mention sports cameras, the first thing that comes to mind is almost always GoPro . But surprisingly, in this niche field, GoPro 's market share seems to be declining. However, our domestic brands going overseas are gaining momentum and have already caught up.

It has achieved the first market share in 3 years, outperforming a number of established giants

In 2015, Insta360's parent company , Insta360 Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. ( hereinafter referred to as "Insta360" ) , was established in Shenzhen. The following year, the company launched its new product Nano , which achieved a monthly revenue of RMB 20 million as soon as it went online .

Seizing the market gap and riding on the favorable trend, Insta360 became the world's number one brand in terms of panoramic camera shipments in 2018 , with imaging giants Samsung of South Korea and Ricoh of Japan becoming its "defeatists" .

Insta360 has two main product lines: consumer-grade smart imaging equipment and professional-grade smart imaging equipment . Consumer -grade smart imaging equipment includes sports cameras, panoramic cameras, and panoramic sports cameras .

In terms of sports cameras, GoPro, which was founded 20 years ago and has an annual revenue of $1 billion, has a very high position , but now seems to be unstable. In 2022, Insta360's sales exceeded 2 billion yuan. Although it is only 30% of GoPro's , its market share has risen to the second place in the world's sports cameras , and its momentum is strong .

Insta360 also has two platforms: online and offline .

On Amazon, many Insta360 products can sell more than 1,000 units per month. As a product with a high unit price, such a result for a single listing is excellent, and many listings also carry the "Amazon Choice " and " Overall Pick " logos.

In different subcategories, such as " Sports & Action Video Cameras " , many Insta360 products are listed on Amazon's BS list.

The prospectus shows that from 2018 to June 2021, Insta360 opened a total of 15 online stores on Amazon's European, American and Japanese sites. These channels brought it revenues of 18.43 million yuan, 45.77 million yuan, 71.39 million yuan and 59.72 million yuan respectively .

According to the data from the independent site, from 2018 to June 2021, store.insta360.com brought Insta360 33.81 million yuan, 89.28 million yuan, 198 million yuan and 172 million yuan .

Similarweb statistics show that last month, the monthly visits to store.insta360.com reached 2 million. In the nearly three months ending February 2024, its average monthly visits reached 2.03 million, far exceeding independent sites in the same category.

By region, visits from the United States accounted for more than 22%, while the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada and other places accounted for 5% each.

Offline, Insta360 has also covered more than 60 markets around the world. Insta360 products are sold in Apple Store retail stores, Leica flagship stores, Canon Gold Stores, Best Buy, B&H, Suning and other brand stores.

From 2018 to the first half of 2021, Insta360's overseas revenue reached RMB 194 million, RMB 408 million, RMB 568 million and RMB 413 million, respectively, accounting for 75.35%, 69.82%, 67.85% and 69.58% of its main business.

It is obvious that the overseas market is Insta360's most important market.

Surpassing Apple, it becomes the world's most innovative company of the year

How powerful is Insta360?

Not long ago, Fast Company, one of the most authoritative and influential business magazines in the United States, released the list of the world's most innovative companies in 2024. Insta360 was on the list again after four years.

In the list, Insta360 ranks among the top three in the field of consumer electronics. The first place is the technology giant Google, the second is the headphone giant BOSE, and Apple even ranks fourth after Insta360 .

In addition, Insta360 has been listed repeatedly in the "BrandOS Overseas Brand Social Media Influence List" released by OneSight. In the TOP 30 consumer electronics list in Q4 last year, Insta360 ranked 16th, ahead of Xiaomi, OPPO, Lenovo and other mobile phone manufacturers. Insta360 is the only camera photography brand on the list, the other one is NEEWER ranked 26th.

Insta360 is even more favored by capital.

Tianyancha information shows that before its official establishment ( 2014), InnoStone received angel round financing of US$1 million from IDG Capital . The following year, it received another US$8 million in Series A financing from IDG Capital and Qiming Venture Partners.

Since then , in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020, Inspur Innovation has received five rounds of financing, with an estimated amount of RMB 300 million. In other words, except for 2017, from 2014 to 2020, Inspur Innovation has received capital "settlement" every year, with seven rounds of financing exceeding RMB 100 million, including big names such as Suning, Magna Fidelity, and Cornerstone Capital .

Based on imaging technology , Insta360 has successfully created a world-renowned smart imaging brand . It was also because of the continuous good news of performance that Insta360 decided to go public.

In June 2020, Innolux accepted guidance from CITIC Securities and formally filed for guidance with the Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau; in July, the Shenzhen Regulatory Bureau disclosed Innolux's listing filing information; in October, Innolux submitted an IPO application for the Science and Technology Innovation Board and was accepted; in November, it was subject to the first round of inquiries.

However, in July 2021, its review was suspended by the Listing Committee meeting. It was questioned again two months later. A week after the inquiry, the Listing Committee meeting approved its listing application.

In January 2022, Inspur Innovation submitted its registration draft for listing, but now almost 25 months have passed and it has not updated its prospectus. With just one step left to go, Inspur Innovation's IPO journey has come to a standstill.

Net profit of 400 million yuan a year , Porsche gifts to employees

Why did it fail to enter the door of listed companies after two rounds of inquiries? Is it because of poor performance?

The above materials clearly show that Insta360 has been making great strides both at home and abroad. In 2016, Insta360's Nano series earned 20 million yuan a month as soon as it was launched ; in June last year, its thumb camera GO3 became the top-selling sports camera on multiple platforms in the world for three consecutive days as soon as it was launched .

And according to the prospectus, from 2018 to 2020, the compound growth rate of Innolux's revenue was 81.42% .

According to the latest prospectus, from January to September 2021, Innolux's revenue was 952 million yuan, an increase of 61.51% over the same period in 2020. Its net profit reached 208 million yuan, and its non-net profit was 200 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 129.47% and 108.02%.

Innolux also expects its revenue in 2021 to reach 1.251 billion yuan to 1.351 billion yuan, its net profit to reach 255 million yuan to 296 million yuan, and its non-net profit to be 248 million yuan to 289 million yuan. All three figures can double.

Other public information shows that in 2022, Innovision's revenue exceeded 2 billion yuan, with total profits reaching 400 million yuan, and its operating performance continued to maintain rapid growth in 2023 .

According to a report by Frost & Sullivan, Insta360 became the world's largest brand of panoramic camera shipments in 2018. By 2021, its market share of panoramic cameras had reached 41% , Ricoh 22%, and GoPro 19%.

To date, Insta360 has ranked first in the global panoramic camera market for six consecutive years and second in the global sports camera market, and its products are exported to more than 200 countries and regions around the world.

Google trend data shows that in the past five years, the global search popularity of Insta360 has continued to rise, reaching a peak at one point.

At the 2023 annual meeting of Arashi Vision , it distributed more than 1,000 gifts, including 5 SUVs and Apple Vision Pro.

Nandu Wancai reported that as early as the year-end banquet in 2022 , employees of Innolux received rewards of luxury cars such as Porsche , BMW, and Tesla .

" Twenty years ago , there were opportunities everywhere, but now I am a latecomer in any market I enter. If latecomers want to gain a foothold, they need to continue to invest in core capabilities such as R&D and branding. " Liu Jingkang, founder of Innolux, said in an interview with LatePost .

Perhaps it is precisely because of its belief in building a brand and focusing on research and development that Arashi Vision has achieved its current success, but why has its listing been stalled for more than two years?

Revenue

Going to sea