Drone Ecosystem
Catching Up on Blue sUAS and US Military Purchases of UAS
The Start of 2021 Has Revealed Winners and Challenges Behind the Shift to a US Domestic Drone Industry As we have revealed last year, 2020 saw a resurgence in US drone manufacturers, recouping lost market share by reaching similar levels as 2017. Despite this shift, the industry is still far away from both broad competition … Read more
Drone Channel Mayhem – DJI Rewrites the Rules
DJI Moves to Sell Its Enterprise Drones Online, with Impacts to the Broader Drone Ecosystem Last Friday, DJI reversed direction and moved to sell much of its enterprise products online. DJI had previously exclusively sold its powerful, expensive and complicated enterprise products solely through distributors like RMUS, DroneNerds, Heliguy and more, with over 100 US-based … Read more
Drones Are Doing More In U.S. Than You May Know, As These 3 Companies Show
Five years ago, the pundits predicted that by now we would be seeing tens of thousands of drones buzzing over our heads delivering everything from pizzas and burritos to the latest “must-have” item from Amazon. So what happened? Where are they? In a nutshell, they are here, but the general public doesn’t see them—at least … Read more
Three Forces That Shaped the Drone Industry in 2018
This was a big year for the commercial drone industry as a whole. It saw a significant increase in the business adoption, the expansion of the FAA’s LAANC program (the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability that provides access to controlled airspace near airports), the launch of the UAS Integration Pilot Program from the FAA … Read more
Four Commercial Drone Trends to Watch in 2018
In my last post, Five Biggest Commercial Drone Trends of 2017 and the Challenges Ahead, I used data from our 2017 Drone Market Sector Report to illustrate the major trends of the past year and describe the major challenges ahead for the drone industry. That post looked back, but this one looks forward, offering our … Read more
Why the Drone Network of Tomorrow is Farther Away than You Think
Airspace integration and management solutions for drones continue to garner new investment, but most options are based on fairytale scenarios and raise more questions than answers. I’ve been doing research on the commercial drone industry since early 2012, and it never ceases to amaze me how much hype there is. A week doesn’t go by … Read more
Commercial Drone Markets: 2016 Year in Review
Last year at this time, I reflected back on the news and trends of the commercial drone markets of 2015 and wrote about the mixed state of affairs in the U.S. Back then we saw only 2,500 Section 333 grants for commercial activity, and the press’s narrative that ‘drones are cool’ turned to ‘drones are … Read more
6 Tips for Avoiding Phony Dronie Consultants and Attorneys
How to steer clear of the wrong hire for your drone business By Jonathan Rupprecht, Esq. for Drone Analyst® It seems everyone is running toward the “drone” rush to make a quick buck. The way I see it is many of the consultants and attorneys assisting businesses with drone work are in reality experimenting on … Read more
5 Tips for Evaluating Online Drone Data Services
Choosing the right service means choosing a trusted business partner THE FACTS: In early 2014, it was easy to see that drones themselves (the aircraft) would quickly become commoditized and their value would come not from what they could do but from the data they collect. In a piece titled “Drones Revolution Means Big Data … Read more
Insights from New Market Research on Drones Sales
We just released “Drones in the Channel: 2016 Market Report,” a research study examining drone sales and distribution channels in North America. It’s the first in-depth study of drone sales channels and reveals mixed distribution tactics as well as pinpoints market share of major UAV brands. The report is a result of a three-month project … Read more