The legal battle between two Chinese tech giants has escalated to a new front. On June 12, Shenzhen-based companies DJI and Insta360 faced off in a US court.
On that day, DJI formally filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Insta360 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The lawsuit targets Insta360's Luna series of handheld gimbal cameras, which had just debuted in the US on June 9.
DJI alleges that Insta360 infringed on two of its design patents and four utility patents. These cover core technologies and designs from DJI's Osmo Pocket series, including key areas like gimbal electromechanical control and shooting control. DJI has also requested a permanent injunction from the court.
Notably, Insta360 swiftly retaliated on the same day, filing a countersuit against DJI in the US. This countersuit involves five utility patents related to gimbal cameras and panoramic cameras, covering technologies such as gimbal stabilization algorithms, directional control, smooth anti-shake, motion data overlay, and panoramic video stabilization. Simultaneously, Insta360 filed requests with the China National Intellectual Property Administration to invalidate the related patent families.
The timing of the lawsuit, coinciding with the launch of a competitor's new product, is clearly strategic, indicating DJI had prepared this legal action well in advance. Interestingly, Insta360's Luna Ultra was released globally on June 10, while DJI's own Pocket 4P is reportedly set for release on June 15, putting their product launch cycles in direct conflict.
DJI's language in the complaint is particularly sharp, accusing Insta360's Luna of "brazenly and wholesale copying DJI's technology and design." It claims the accused products are "virtually identical" to the patented innovations DJI has developed over nearly a decade for its handheld gimbal camera systems. DJI further accuses Insta360 of "willful infringement," seeking enhanced damages.
This marks the first patent lawsuit confrontation between the two companies in an overseas market and represents another instance of Insta360 being sued by a major player in the US. Previously, the action camera pioneer GoPro had initiated a Section 337 investigation with the US International Trade Commission in an attempt to block Insta360's US business, a case in which Insta360 emerged fully victorious.
Roots of the Conflict
To understand this legal dispute, one must look back to a more discreet lawsuit filed earlier this year. In March 2026, DJI sued Insta360 Innovation in the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in Guangdong Province. The case involves disputes over the ownership of six patents and implicates several former key R&D personnel from DJI. The court has accepted the case. This was DJI's first lawsuit of this kind within China.
A "patent ownership dispute" differs from a patent infringement claim; it contests a more fundamental issue: who actually owns the invention?
DJI's complaint states that the six patents in question—including three invention patent applications and three granted utility model patents—are concentrated in core areas such as drone flight control, structural design, and image processing.
These patents were developed by several former core DJI R&D employees who joined Insta360 less than a year after leaving DJI and completed the related inventions. According to the "one-year rule" under China's Patent Law, such inventions should be considered service inventions, and the patent rights should belong to DJI.
An intriguing detail is that for two of these patents, Insta360 listed the first inventor in its Chinese application as "requesting anonymity," while the corresponding international patent applications fully disclosed the real names of all inventors, who are all former DJI employees. This approach inevitably raises questions about Insta360's intentions to downplay the connection.
At the time, Insta360 founder Liu Jingkang responded frankly, stating he "completely understands the mindset of a giant whose market is being encroached upon." He added, "As a small company with limited resources, we prioritize R&D investment over legal battles. We aim to grow the market and the pie through differentiation, offering consumers richer choices."
He further noted, "We respect intellectual property rights, but we also respect facts, legal procedures, and rulings. We do not fear any patent litigation. We do not engage in competition for existing market share; we will only use continuous innovation to expand the market."
These remarks highlight the fundamental differences between the two companies: one is an industry leader mounting a strong counterattack against a challenger, while the other is a newcomer seeking survival space through differentiation. Behind this lies a vast disparity in the scale and strategy of the two firms.
A Tale of Two Companies
A look at the data reveals the true scale gap between these competitors.
DJI's revenue for 2025 exceeded 80 billion yuan, with profits surpassing 20 billion yuan. It holds over 70% of the global consumer drone market, with a 77% share in the US market alone, contributing about 45% of its overseas revenue. In the global handheld smart camera market for 2025, DJI shipped 10.4 million units, capturing a 62.4% market share, far ahead of Insta360's 3.4 million units and 20.4% share. In the drone sector, DJI is in a league of its own, accounting for at least two out of every three consumer drones sold globally.
Although Insta360's revenue is only about one-eighth of DJI's, it is a formidable player in its own niche. Its full-year 2025 revenue was 9.741 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 74.76%. Revenue for Q1 2026 was 2.481 billion yuan, up 83.11% year-on-year.
The most striking figure is its dominance in the global panoramic camera market. A Frost & Sullivan report shows that as of Q3 2025, Insta360 held a commanding 85.8% global market share, with DJI in second place at 17.1% and former giant GoPro at just 1.4%. In the thumb camera category, Insta360 leads globally with a 57% sales share.
Placing the core data of both companies side by side makes for an interesting comparison. DJI's annual revenue is equivalent to about eight years of Insta360's revenue, yet the competitive dynamic is far more complex than the raw numbers suggest.
In the second half of 2025, the two companies formally began encroaching on each other's turf. In July, DJI launched its first 8K panoramic camera, the Osmo 360, with a starting price of 2,999 yuan—nearly 800 yuan lower than Insta360's flagship product at the time—directly waging a price war in Insta360's core market.
A report from JQ Consulting indicated that with just the Osmo 360, DJI captured about 43% of the panoramic camera market in Q3 2025.
Insta360's counterattack was equally swift. In December 2025, it launched the world's first panoramic drone, the "Ying Ling A1," which achieved sales exceeding 30 million yuan within 48 hours, transforming from an outsider in the drone race to a genuine challenger on the field.
Insta360's R&D expenditure for 2025 was approximately 1.649 billion yuan, nearly doubling year-on-year and exceeding the total of the previous three years combined. The company is also custom-developing three self-designed chips. It acknowledged that "high-intensity strategic investment is an inevitable process in the company's development."
As both companies pour resources into R&D for product iteration, they are also engaging in "exclusivity battles" in supply chains and channels, with some suppliers reportedly being asked to "prioritize other clients but exclude Insta360."
When competition in channels and supply chains fails to yield an immediate winner, litigation often becomes the only path to escalation. From the domestic patent ownership dispute to mutual accusations of patent infringement overseas, the conflict has evolved from behind-the-scenes struggles over pricing and distribution to open legal warfare in the courts.
The Catalyst of Competition
Some might view legal battles between tech giants as unsavory. However, from another perspective, a lack of competition leads to market stagnation.
DJI's lawsuit against Insta360 and Insta360's forceful countersuit, while seemingly adversarial, represent a valuable state of intense competition that drives Chinese technological innovation. Both sides are using patent tools to protect their technological achievements and R&D to build competitive barriers. Ultimately, consumers benefit the most from this rivalry.
Take the handheld gimbal camera category. DJI defined this segment with the Osmo Pocket in 2018 and has invested nearly a decade in R&D. Insta360 entered from the panoramic imaging angle, bringing differentiated design and innovative features with its Luna series.
This competition has accelerated market growth. IDC data shows that the global handheld smart camera market shipped 16.65 million units in 2025, a surge of 83% year-on-year, with sales exceeding 46.1 billion yuan, an increase of 86%. Beneath the surface of the giants' rivalry, the entire sector is rising. Action camera shipments exceeded 8 million units, up 61%, while gimbal camera shipments more than doubled. A larger market pie creates opportunities for all.
Insta360 founder Liu Jingkang's statement bears repeating: "We do not engage in competition for existing market share; we will only use continuous innovation to expand the market." This embodies the ambition Chinese tech companies should have: not to undermine each other, but to collaboratively grow the market.
Globally, in the handheld smart imaging sector, DJI and Insta360 have formed a dominant duopoly. The former pioneer GoPro shipped only 1.8 million units in 2025, a decline of nearly 26%. In the global action camera market by sales value, Insta360 and DJI are neck-and-neck, each holding around 37% share for second place.
IDC predicts the global handheld smart camera market could exceed 40 million units by 2030, with a five-year compound annual growth rate of nearly 20%. This sizable pie is being carved up primarily by these two Chinese companies.
More importantly, these patent lawsuits reveal the confidence of Chinese companies in the global technology arena. Insta360 recently defeated GoPro's ITC Section 337 investigation with precise evidence, repelling the patent siege from a foreign giant. DJI, despite pressure from US regulatory scrutiny, maintains a 77% drone market share in North America.
Whether it's DJI's global dominance in drones or Insta360's commanding lead in panoramic imaging, their ability to fight tough battles, take decisive action, and drive innovation represents the true essence of Chinese technology.
Competition is more than just conflict; it can be the most valuable legacy rival companies leave. Pursuing and challenging each other is what drives mutual advancement. The greatest rivals for Chinese tech companies are not each other, but competitors from Japan, South Korea, Europe, and the US.
The industry anticipates that the continued "clash of titans" between DJI and Insta360 will propel the entire sector forward and that they will jointly uphold the banner of "Intelligent Manufacturing in China" more firmly and plant it farther afield.
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