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Commercial Drone Markets: 2015 Year in Review

By Colin Snow | December 8, 2015

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, I reflected back on the news and trends of the commercial drone markets of 2014 and wrote about the mixed state of affairs in the U.S.  Back then, drones got considerable media hype and you would have thought that drones could do anything from … Read more

New Commercial Drones Report: Current State of the U.S. Industry

By Colin Snow | July 6, 2015

UPDATE: September, 2016. This report has been updated to include the latest market trend and FAA Part 107 rules I just released a new research report.  It details the state of the commercial drone industry in the U.S. as of the end of September 2015.  It looks at recent innovations, business applications, key ecosystem companies, and market forecasts. It … Read more

Diversity and Hype in Commercial Drone Market Forecasts

By Colin Snow | June 4, 2015

This post also appears in The Market section of sUAS News. —– Have you noticed the growing number of market forecasts for the commercial drones industry?  I have.  Not a week goes by that a new one doesn’t hit my radar.  I’m currently tracking about 15 [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” … Read more

Commercial Drone Markets: 2014 Year in Review

By Colin Snow | December 30, 2014

Judging by the headlines, 2014 turned out to be the year for drones. I referenced in Tweets a total of 503 articles with the word ‘drones’ in the headline last year.  A Google search brings up about 61.4 million results referring to ‘drones.’  Granted, that search includes references to military and hobby drones, but it … Read more

Drone Delivery: By The Numbers

By Colin Snow | October 2, 2014

What do medicine, batteries, and forgotten anniversary gifts have in common?  They are the most likely items consumers will want to be delivered by drone once that service is available.  At least, that’s the verdict from the consumers I surveyed in August and September of this year. In my post Drone Delivery: How Much Would … Read more

Drone Delivery: How much would you pay?

By Colin Snow | August 24, 2014

I love the look of the Tesla Model S, but I’d never get one. Somehow, the opportunity to pay $100K to drive only 300 miles before spending 4 to 9 hours recharging does not appeal to me. I also love the idea of Amazon’s drone delivery initiative Prime Air.  But, like the Tesla, the opportunity to … Read more

Five Reasons the AUVSI Got Its Drone Market Forecast Wrong

By Colin Snow | June 25, 2014

My guest blogger is Mitch Solomon of Aironovo and this is an excerpt from his post which we developed together. You can find his post here. —- Since its publication in early 2013, AUVSI’s The Economic Impact of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration in the United States has become the gold standard forecast for the commercial drone … Read more

Film or Farm: Which is the Bigger Drone Market? – Part 2

By Colin Snow | June 11, 2014

This is Part 2 in a two-part series that summarizes my views on why video/film/cinema – not agriculture and farming — will be the largest driver of sUAS commercial businesses. In Part 1, I explore thoughts on the market for video/film/cinema, and below I outline why I believe agriculture will lag in market uptake. The … Read more

Film or Farm: Which is the Bigger Drone Market? – Part 1

By Colin Snow | June 5, 2014

This is Part 1 in a two-part series that summarizes my views on why video/film/cinema – not agriculture and farming — will be the largest driver of sUAS commercial businesses. In this part I explore thoughts on the market for video/film/cinema, and below I outline why I believe film and video will lead in market … Read more

Will Future FAA Rules Kill The Small Drones Market?

By Colin Snow | May 3, 2014

I just released the findings of my two-month survey studying the impact of FAA rules on small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) in the U.S. You can read the press release here. Among the many insights I got from the research, these two are the most significant: Unfavorable rules will disintegrate an already fragile market for … Read more