Amid the chaos of CES 2017, an interesting tidbit of information has come to light regarding Chinese drone manufacturer DJI and Swedish medium-format camera company Hasselblad.
According to “numerous, reliable” inside sources of photography website Luminous Landscape, DJI has quietly acquired a majority stake in Hasselblad. “Sooner or later, this will all become public,” says the website’s Kevin Raber. “Maybe now that I am spilling the beans, it will be sooner rather than later.”
In 2012, DJI announced that it had acquired a minority stake in Hasselblad. At the time, the reasons behind the investment were all but unknown.
Nine months later, the reasoning came to light when the companies unveiled the M600, a ridiculously impressive – and expensive – drone that combined DJI’s drone expertise with Hasselblad’s medium-format proficiency.
In an attempt to confirm DJI’s acquisition of a majority stake in Hasselblad, we reached out to both companies for comment. DJI and Hasselblad responded to us with an identical response reading: “We have no further news about DJI’s partnership with Hasselblad. We will continue to work together to push forward world-class imaging to creators around the world.”
According to Luminous Landscape, the acquisition came about when Ventizz, the venture firm that purchased Hasselblad in 2011, wanted to take a step back and remove itself from the Swedish camera manufacturer. As a result, Ventizz sold its stakes in Hasselblad to DJI.
“It seems that everyone inside Hasselblad knows about this,” says Raber. But no one seems to be talking about it, let alone confirming the acquisition.
If these reports hold true, it could prove to be an interesting development for both companies. DJI is continually proving to be a force in the drone market, and Hasselblad holds decades of expertise in the art of creating high-performance, medium-format cameras.
