Chinese firms show off cutting-edge products at tech show

Huawei's talk band is shown at the International Consumer Electronics Show held on Jan 7, 2015 in Las Vegas. [Eric Jou/chinadaily.com.cn]

LAS VEGAS - People who love to take photos now have a new angle for photography. With a drone and gimbals both developed by a Chinese company, shutterbugs have more fun to shoot from the sky.

"Starting from the latter half of 2014, the market of civil unmanned drone flourished in short time," said Tong Shaonan, marketing manager of DJI, a company based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

The firm is one of several makers showing their latest technology in the Unmanned Systems Marketplace, an event at the ongoing 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show, which opened Tuesday in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"DJI has taken over 70 percent of global civil drone market," Tong said.

According to the Consumer Electronics Association, organizer of the show, 400,000 drones for civilian use will be sold in 2015 for a total value of $130 million, up 55 percent from last year.

By 2018, the global unmanned aerial vehicles market will rise to $1 billion.

Drones are just one of the products that Chinese companies' technology is leading at this year's show. At the crowded drone section at the annual consumer electronics expo, half of the 14 exhibitors are from China.

EHang is another leading drone brand. Its Ghost, controlled via an app on an Android phone, can fly at 79 km per hour and reach an altitude of 900 meters.

Apart from drones, smartphones designed and produced by Chinese companies are also eye-catching.

Xiaomi Mi5 and Huawei Mate7 are strong competitors to Samsung Galaxy S6 and Apple's iPhone 6 in the world's $373.9 billion smartphone market.