The Wildly Successful and Innovative Market of Consumer Drones

    



     Since the late 2000’s consumers have been obsessed with the idea of unmanned aerial aircraft at a public level. Parrot, a french-based company was the first to truly revolutionize this concept. Aerial photography/ videography isn’t a new concept, it first came to fruition in 1858 by Gaspar Tournachon when he launched himself in a hot air balloon, 262 feet above Paris to capture a photograph of the city. Over the span of the next 162 years, aerial photography has transformed from hot air balloons to now small unmanned aerial aircraft. 

Before the drone revolution came to about, aerial cinematography and photography took place on a helicopter or airplane. Although this was the only option at the time, it was a very expensive and lengthy process that couldn’t be done at a moment’s notice. After Parrots launch into the drone market, competitors came about making the industry better and progressing it quicker than other start-up technology. The biggest competitor to the french company is Da-Jiang Innovations better known as “DJI”. The Chinese manufacturing company now dominates the drone consumer market, but why is that?

 DJI introduced its first consumer drone in 2013. The “Phantom 1” was the first iteration to the now wildly successful and popular “Phantom Series” drones. Although the Phantom was technically basic it now is one of the best and most powerful drones on the market. Originally the Phantom wasn’t equipped with an onboard camera -- a must with newer UAS -- instead, a GoPro was attached on but couldn’t be controlled from the ground. Immediately following the Phantom 1, DJI worked and released the second iteration, the Phantom 2. The camera capabilities were top of the line, 1080p and 14MP pictures. Since then DJI has progressed to Phantom 4, and the company is expected to release the newest version in early 2021. Although this series is one of the most popular among DJI consumers, nothing has been more innovative and successful than the Mavic Series. 

Released in 2016 the Mavic was the world’s first “foldable” drone. Allowing for it to be put into a backpack and even into a pocket in some instances, making this new wave of drones much easier to travel with. This paved the way for a number of new drones similar to the Mavic, one of which was another first of its kind, the Mavic Mini. The Mini came in at 49 grams. Just under the 50 grams in which the FAA (Federal Aviation Association) requires you to register a drone. 

Although DJI has nearly created a monopoly on the consumer drone market why has it changed our world? Now movies can be made safer than ever before. Unmanned aircraft can help with security purposes or search and rescue missions. All of these can now take place without the expenses of pilots or aircrafts, because now anyone can have a small aircraft at their disposal for a relatively inexpensive price.





DrDrone.ca. (2018, June 9). Timeline of DJI Drones: From the Phantom 1 to the Mavic Air. Retrieved October 06, 2020, from https://www.drdrone.ca/blogs/drone-news-drone-help-blog/timeline-of-dji-drones

History of Aerial Photography. (n.d.). Retrieved October 5, 2020, from https://papa.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=808138&module_id=158950

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