Reaching for high skies with drones

A Chinese company displays its drone which can carry professional cameras and lenses at the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, on Jan 6, 2015. According to the research by the US Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the global market for consumer drones will approach 130 million dollars in 2015, up 55 percent from 2014, with unit sales of consumer drones expected to reach 400,000. [Photo/Xinhua]

In October, the company briefly entered American pop culture when characters in the South Park cartoon used a video-equipped drone modeled on DJI's Phantom to spy paparazzi-style on their neighbors.

DJI rolls out new models as little as five months apart, a rapid pace that reflects intense competition with smaller brands promising lower prices and more features.

"The development cycle is tricky," company spokesman Michael Perry said. Referring to the Inspire 1, he said, "One of the main reasons we wanted to get this out is, we did not want anyone else to do it first."

Unusually for a startup, DJI handles almost every step of its process itself, from research and production through worldwide sales and repairs. That has led to complaints as repair centers struggle to keep pace with sales.

Richardson had to wait two and a half months for his radio-control unit to be returned after a broken switch was replaced.

"I'm very happy with the product," he said, "but customer service was not so great."