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This is not a niche, low volume IC. Its smaller brother is used (I should say was used) by DJI in its Lightbridge video transmission system (that you could find

This is not a niche, low volume IC. Its smaller brother is used (I should say was used) by DJI in its Lightbridge video transmission system (that you could find in the Phantom 3/4, that sold in the order of millions). And that's only one product I know of, I'm sure there are many other. I would love to know how much DJI was paying for that chip, especially after they went to the effort or replacing it with an in-house one (no name Chinese startup) in more recent batches.

rasz 8y ago
They didnt replace it solely due to cost. China is very good with long term strategic investment. Just the latest headline https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zte-tencent-chairman/tencent-chairman-pledges-to-advance-china-chip-industry-after-zte-wake-up-call-reports-idUSKCN1IS03K https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zte-tencent-chairman/tenc... They have been surgically copying/reimplementing advanced technology for over 10 years now. While its still mainly for internal consumption (cars, electronics), western suppliers are steadily pushed out of more and more niches, and some products do get exported (LCD panels for example).