DJI, China's drone leader, can no longer get new products approved by US regulators, and Shenzhen rival Insta360 is using its clean legal status to open a Times Square store and poach DJI's American customers.
On a Saturday morning in September, people queued in New York's Times Square to look at pocket-sized cameras from the Shenzhen company Insta360. YouTubers flew in to promote them; cyclists in yellow shirts rode around the city. It was Insta360's first US flagship store.
One can get in, one cannot
DJI dominates consumer drones and holds 73% of global shipments in handheld cameras; Insta360 has 20%. But the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act required the FCC to put DJI and Autel gear on its Covered List, and since November the agency has not approved new DJI products.
Insta360 is not on that list, so its new cameras still clear the FCC. As one consultant who helps Chinese firms sell abroad put it: there are restrictions, but a clear no beats a maybe.
Insta360's answer is to give the drone its own name
Founded in 2015, Insta360 started with 360-degree cameras, and its founder JK Liu aimed at overseas markets from day one, America especially. Last year it launched Antigravity, a separate drone brand said to be incubated with third parties, which puts a buffer between drones and its camera business.
Antigravity's A1 drone won FCC approval just before the rule took effect. Its CEO, Michael Shabun, says the company plans to move manufacturing to the US within a few years, keeps US user data local, and designed the drone so it cannot carry more than 50 grams of extra weight, a limit meant to stop other uses.
What the old customers are weighing
A real-estate consultant in San Diego used a DJI camera for a year, then bought three Insta360 cameras and a microphone. His reason was simple: DJI's newest products are not sold in the US, and Insta360 is something you can walk into a store and buy.
An auto-body technician in Minnesota also switched to Insta360's new vlogging camera, drawn by its detachable screen and doubtful about DJI's future in America. He is angry about the ban, he says, but he is backing whoever is winning right now.
Insta360 is not safe. Its net profit fell 94% year on year in the first half of 2026, it is fighting DJI on prices and patents at home, and memory-chip prices are eating margins. America is an opening, not a shelter.
Why it matters
When the banned company cannot reach the shelf, its rival from the same city takes the customers. Policies that restrict Chinese firms do not leave a market empty; they decide who is allowed through the door, and the winner is often the quieter name that never made the list.
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