Radiolink has eyes on sky-high markets

Xie Bo, founder and general manager of Radiolink Electronic Ltd. [Photo/China Daily]

Xie Bo, founder and general manager of Radiolink Electronic Ltd, has a lofty goal－to see his company's electronic remote controllers used in major global model airplane competitions in the next few years.

The company, which was founded in 2003, would seek an initial public offering to finance its expansion amid increased domestic and export demand, he said.

"We make advanced electronic remote controllers, which are widely used as the popularity of unmanned aerial vehicles grows," said Xie.

Radiolink, based in Shenzhen of Guangdong province, achieved sales of about 1.8 million yuan ($290,000) in April alone, according to Xie. Total sales in 2014 were about 4 million yuan, he said.

Surging use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, has been driving sales, he said.

"As the drone industry has developed rapidly, a growing number of domestic and foreign drone producers have contacted us about potential business cooperation," Xie said. The company had so many orders in April that it could not satisfy them all.

"Our shortage of capacity is due to dramatically increased demand, especially from abroad," Xie said.

Before 2012, when Radiolink embarked on its transformation, the company was a chip supplier for toy producers based in Shantou, one of the key toy centers in eastern Guangdong. Radiolink also developed and sold information technology products, according to Xie.

Hu Lantian, vice-director of the Shenzhen Toys Industrial Association, attributed Radiolink's success to a decision to shift away from supplying chips for toys to making its own innovative electronic products.

"It is not easy for a traditional chip supplier (to decide to) transform its business, given that Radiolink already had a large market share in the toy chip industry," Hu said. Investment in innovation and technology was a major factor behind the company's success, according to Hu.

"There are a growing number of small and medium-sized electronics companies in Shenzhen that pro-actively upgraded their business in line with changing markets," Hu said.

Upgrading has helped expand the industry, with the output of the electronic information sector in Shenzhen, a testing ground for China's reform and opening-up, increasing 9.1 percent year-on-year to 1.2 trillion yuan in 2014, according to the Shenzhen Electronic Chamber of Commerce.

After Radiolink began its transformation, it took almost two years to begin the complete production of electronic remote controllers.