00:00We were just chatting earlier. I really think at this event, the whole of CES, Insta360 is actually really standing out because everyone is carrying around these yellow tote bags that have your name on them. So I'm sure there's been quite a lot of brand awareness. But what have been the sort of key takeaways for you from the event and what's been the big focus?
00:19Yeah, we're really excited to be here. Actually, for the 10th time now, we just had our 10-year anniversary last year. And Insta360 has grown a lot throughout the years. But what I really like about the CES this year, there's a lot of talks about AI. There's a lot of talks about content generation as well. And we kind of like merge these two topics. In fact, actually, AI is something that we started very early on. We use it for our camera to enhance the image quality, to add easier post-editing functionality.
00:47So we're very excited that these trends also now get picked up more. And specifically for our use case in imaging and camera technology, it's also something that really improves the user experience.
00:58So very happy to be here. There's a lot of excitement at CES about us. And you can see everybody's walking around with Insta360 bags.
01:07It really is quite remarkable. I would just be really thinking. Whoever made that decision, I think, actually, probably deserves a bonus.
01:13But anyway, I do want to talk about the new products that you've launched because we were just chatting about how you're expanding that product category and moving away from being considered, say, a pure play camera company.
01:25So what's new?
01:26Right. So what you can see here is that's our flagship camera, the Insta360 X5. That's what we're known for, 360-degree cameras.
01:33It has two lenses. And what it does with that, it erases your selfie stick.
01:37So if I would hold this camera like this, it basically makes the camera invisible and I get a third-person view about myself.
01:43So that's one of the very groundbreaking technologies from Insta360 that makes us very unique.
01:49And this enables great use cases in skiing, in traveling, mountain biking, whenever you're on the road.
01:55But what's new at this show, what we specifically launched here, is our first all-new AI-powered webcam.
02:03That's the Insta360 Link 2 Pro C and the Link 2 Pro webcam that is now on the market.
02:10And what it does, it has a built-in gimbal, so it tracks you.
02:14It's very interesting for, like, remote working or when you do conferencing.
02:17That's something where we also used our initial R&D and research that we put into our handheld cameras and put this into a form factor of a webcam.
02:27So super excited also to have this here.
02:30And then one more product that's super excited to have with it.
02:33It's actually what I'm wearing here.
02:34So that's our Go Ultra camera, a super portable vlogging camera that can be with me anywhere that turns you into a vlogging machine.
02:41I mean, there's a lot of different companies that have introduced products here.
02:45And one that's generated some buzz is a relatively unknown company called Leaptic from China.
02:51And they've also introduced a camera that kind of looks similar to that.
02:54But what is the pressure that you see, competitive pressure that you see?
02:58Because it's quite hard to stay ahead of competitors.
03:01I think there's definitely more competition is heating up.
03:03That's what we can feel as well.
03:05And especially more in the lower tiered pricing sector.
03:09So we see pricing pressure happening.
03:12At the same time, you know, Insta360's strength was always innovation.
03:16It was always creativity.
03:17And we observed, like, what is coming up on the market.
03:20But at the same time, we tried to focus on our DNA, what made us successful over the last 10 years.
03:25And this was innovation.
03:27And you can see this, like, throughout our product portfolio.
03:29When we come up with a new product, there's always something different in it.
03:32We have, like, traditional action cameras.
03:34But just last year, we launched an Explorer bundle, which turns this traditional action camera into a point-and-shoot vlogging camera.
03:40And we partnered with Leica here to have an optimized image quality, to have an optimized accessory ecosystem.
03:47And we try to escape competition through innovation.
03:50And that's really what Insta360 makes different compared to all the other competitors out there.
03:55And that's quite tough, just given innovation cycles are so short in China.
04:00And there's also no shortage of competitors as well.
04:03So do you also see the need to consider price cuts this year on some of your key products?
04:09We see our pricing strategy overall that we're going to introduce different tiers of cameras and models.
04:15So let's say for our flagship camera, the X5, we have, obviously, the premium price point on the flagship.
04:21But then we also have the X4 model or the X3 model, who are still on the market, that will then be affordable for early to late majority of customers.
04:29And that are then more retail-driven.
04:31In fact, the big chunk of our sales also comes from those cameras that are older generation models.
04:37And that's kind of our approach.
04:39So, like, with the flagship, we always premium price.
04:42And then when it comes to more entry-level cameras, these are mostly older generation, which doesn't mean that we neglect these older cameras.
04:49In fact, we keep updating them with software and firmware updates, which also shows a little bit how Insta360 is different compared to other camera companies.
04:56In fact, more than 60% of our R&D is software engineers.
05:00So we pay a lot of attention to the software experience.
05:02And I think I'm personally very convinced that in the long term, this is what really differentiates the camera or the imaging space.
05:09It's happening on the software side.
05:10Like, the hardware, it's very easy to imitate, but what you can't imitate so fast is the software.
05:14And that's where we build our expertise.
05:16I want to talk about the listing last year because you debuted on the Starboard or Star Market in June.
05:22So it's about eight months, I guess, ago.
05:25Was that the right boss for you to have targeted?
05:28And what are you thinking about in terms of fundraising or further capex that you need?
05:33Right, right.
05:34That's a good question.
05:34Actually, this IPO helped us to get more funding for R&D, for initial research in new product categories.
05:42Like, you can expect a lot more exciting products and product categories coming up in this year as well.
05:47And we use that funding really specifically for R&D.
05:51And secondly, we use it for international expansion.
05:53Like, I can tease this a little bit.
05:56We're going to have a flagship store in Los Angeles.
05:58We're going to have a flagship store in New York, in Munich, and all around the world, in Tokyo.
06:02And that's where we use this funding to really expand more internationally, to be more closer with the community, to be more closer with the user.
06:11And in the future, you know, like, we keep observing what's possible and what's happening in the space.
06:17And if there's more funding needed, we will evaluate all options.
06:21So you're announcing that you're going to have new retail presences in the U.S., Germany, Japan within 2026?
06:30Correct, yes.
06:312026 will be the year where we will massively ramp up our retail footprint and specifically doing this with dedicated flagship stores that are owned and operated by ourselves.
06:42What does the headcount plan look like then as well?
06:44Right, right.
06:45We now have, in the past year, since 2025, we have around 4,000 employees worldwide now.
06:52A big chunk of this is really on the R&D, on the software and hardware engineer side.
06:56That's where the most portion is.
06:59Same time, we also try to expand into our Los Angeles office.
07:02We have a Munich office and a Tokyo office.
07:04So here we also want to really invest more locally, work with local talents, and be, again, closer to the markets, closer to our customers.
07:12So 4,000 today, again, going to the end of the year, what do you actually expect to be at?
07:17I think you can probably guess that we will add another 1,000 headcount or so.
07:21But it's really, for us, case by case, we're evaluating how is the growth trajectory happening.
07:28But a lot of the investment will really go into the R&D.
07:31And just going back to that global expansion plan, in terms of the outlook, it sounds like you're going to be prioritizing ex-China or are you still keeping that focus on the Chinese market as well?
07:44I think it's definitely including China.
07:47China, like it's China plus rest of the world.
07:51For us, really important that we really see ourselves also as a global company, as a global brand with global talents.
07:59You know, I'm originally from Germany.
08:00We have teams here in Los Angeles.
08:02We have teams in Munich.
08:04And we really try to expand worldwide.
08:07And, again, though, Shenzhen is a great place for us to do our R&D, our research, to have a great access to an amazing ecosystem.
08:13That's where our product development is happening.
08:17Same time, for example, in Japan, we already have some software or imaging engineers that help us to complement the HQ roles.
08:24And that's something super exciting coming up as well, potentially in Germany.
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