Chinese GoPro rival Insta360 sees strong debut in Shanghai IPO as firm eyes expansion
Insta360, the Chinese action camera maker challenging GoPro, surged 285 per cent in its trading debut on Shanghai's Star Market after raising 1.9 billion yuan (US$264.5 million) in the city's largest initial public offering (IPO) in 17 months.
Max Richter, who co-founded the company with 34-year-old Chinese entrepreneur Liu Jingkang in 2015, said Insta360 is 'committed to expanding [its] global presence and elevating brand influence to boost [its] market share worldwide'. He identified China, the US, Europe, Japan and South Korea as key markets for the company.
Richter, who is also the vice-president of marketing, spoke to the Post ahead of the company's debut. It is trading under the company's official name, Arashi Vision.
Insta360 operates an offline retail network spanning more than 60 countries and sells globally through online platforms including
Amazon.com . The company is 'actively fostering emerging markets in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, and exploring new opportunities in Latin America and Africa', Richter said.
Best known for its 360-degree cameras, action cameras and webcams, Insta360 has built a following among adventure enthusiasts, vloggers and other content creators. The company has partnered with Western brands such as Google, to help capture Street View images, and Adobe, integrating into the Premiere Pro video editing workflow with a plug-in.
Insta360's affordability and specifications have helped make it a top alternative to GoPro in the action camera market. Photo: Handout
Insta360 was the leading brand of consumer 360-degree cameras in 2023, with a 67 per cent share of the market, and came second in action cameras behind GoPro, according to market research firm Frost & Sullivan.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
34 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Tech war: Nvidia CEO says Huawei has everyone ‘covered' if US chip ban on China stays
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said his company's technology remained a generation ahead of those developed by China, but warned that Huawei Technologies was in a position to expand its semiconductor business should US chip curbs on China stay in place. Advertisement Ren, however, added that using methods like 'stacking and clustering [on Ascend-powered machines], the computing results are comparable' to the most advanced systems in the world. 'AI is a parallel problem, so if each one of the computers are not capable … just add more computers,' Huang said in response to a question about Ren's comments. 'What he's saying is that in China, [where] they have plenty of energy, they'll just use more chips.' 'He was saying that China's technology is good enough for China. If the United States doesn't want to participate in China, Huawei has got China covered,' Huang added. 'Huawei [also] has got everybody else covered.' Advertisement The 62-year-old Nvidia CEO's televised comments, made on the sidelines of the annual VivaTech conference in Paris, reflect his concerns about Huawei's growing AI chip capabilities, which he earlier raised during a closed-door meeting last month with the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
South China Morning Post
36 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Chinese tech champions from Tencent to Unitree boost European ties amid US trade war
Chinese companies, including Huawei Technologies and Unitree Robotics, are grabbing plenty of attention at one of Europe's largest technology shows in Paris this week, as Beijing commits to deepen technological ties with France amid an intensifying rivalry with the US. In a speech at the China Pavilion of the VivaTech trade show on Thursday, Chinese ambassador to France Deng Li said the country would continue to promote 'open cooperation' and 'peaceful development' in global technology, adding that Beijing was ready to collaborate with Paris to enhance scientific and technological exchanges. The China Pavilion, organised by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, showcased innovative technologies, including a humanoid and a robot dog from Hangzhou-based start-up Unitree , which has become a symbol of the nation's advances in robotics. Europe is currently Unitree's third-largest market, behind China and the US, according to a company staff member. Unitree has sold thousands of its G1 humanoid robot and hundreds of its B2 industrial robot dog globally, he said. China's ambassador to France, Deng Li (centre, in suit), tours the China Pavilion. Photo: Xinmei Shen Unitree aimed to deploy its robots, which could be programmed by customers for difficult tasks, in projects that involve 'boring, dangerous, dirty work', said Zhang Min, Unitree's European market director.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Hongkongers may have to pay higher tolls at Aberdeen Tunnel, Shing Mun Tunnels
Hongkongers may have to pay more to use the Aberdeen Tunnel and the Shing Mun Tunnels under a government proposal to raise tolls from HK$5 (64 US cents) to HK$8 to help recoup some of their hefty annual losses, the Post has learned. The tunnels' current flat fee of HK$5 for all vehicles has remained unchanged for 34 years. A source said on Thursday that authorities were planning to raise the toll to HK$8. The Shing Mun Tunnels recorded a deficit of HK$52 million in the 2023-24 financial year, while the Aberdeen Tunnel recorded a HK$16 million loss. The government's earlier forecasts indicated that the deficits would continue, with estimated shortfalls of HK$52 million and HK$21 million, respectively, this financial year. The source added that officials had also consulted legislators on toll options for the Yau Ma Tei tunnel section of the Central Kowloon Bypass, which is expected to open by the end of the year. Various options were being considered, including toll-free access and fees of HK$10 or HK$17.
