Normally we talk about DJI when they’re bringing out awesome new drones.
As the world's largest producer of consumer-grade UAVs, that's not that surprising.
But today we have a story of corporate greed and scandal, one that has resulted in no less than 45 employees being dismissed from the firm for a price-fixing scheme – and over $USD 100 million in losses.
Chinese publication Yicai Global details an inside ring of up to 100 employees that conspired with one another to raise prices of component parts used to make DJI drones by 20%. This resulted in higher prices for the company and consumers.
The corruption within the system was apparently widespread according to DPReview and has resulted in a huge financial loss for the company that is still being fully tabulated as of press.
According to DPReview’s report, employees that were in on the scheme included research and development, procurement, admins, design, factories, and even sales employees.
That’s absolutely bonkers and is probably going to prompt one of the most through house cleanings in DJI’s history. Apparently the scam resulted in the higher prices for DJI products throughout 2018.
The company released a statement with regard to the scandal, saying: “'We hold our employees to the highest ethical standards and take any violation of our code of ethics very seriously. During a recent investigation, DJI itself found some employees inflated the cost of parts and materials for certain products for personal financial gain. We took swift action to address this issue, fired the bad actors, and contacted law enforcement officials. We continue to investigate the situation and are cooperating fully with law enforcement’s investigation.'”
The loss could total as much as $USD 145 million. DJI will likely implement a bevy of changes in the coming months. Of course, we'll bring you up to date as information becomes available.
