Drones

Drone Industry Latest Trends

2021 shifted the growth of the drone industry as it became one of the few markets to prosper while adjusting the needs of the Covid times. Drones’ robotic solutions replaced the dangerous and time-sensitive jobs during the pandemic and more so after the pandemic when many people have refused to continue such jobs. The ease of some regulations such as BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) has further strengthened the promise that drones bring.

Drone technology has advanced rapidly opening new opportunities for adaptability in multiple industries that could not exploit them earlier. Among those are the capabilities such as BVLOS, 5G tech, Artificial Intelligence, modern thermal imaging and LiDAR sensors, Drone in a Box Solution, and sophisticated battery chargers.

Data analytics has gained sophistication with data management solutions that provide significant and ready-to-use analyses to the users who now want to streamline the unorganized data generated by drones. Besides, drone photogrammetry is enabling 3D modeling and accurate surveying of critical infrastructure, further leading to drone adoption in complex applications. Drone functionality is simultaneously evolving with lighter and smaller drones offering better performances at cheaper prices. This has been possible due to the entrance of many manufacturers in the drone manufacturing space, which was earlier dominated by DJI. These drone manufacturers are offering tailored solutions via differentiated technologies and capabilities at competitive prices making the drone market more dynamic.

While companies are beginning to utilize eased drone regulations and employ drones in intricate operations, the common public is analyzing property rights, privacy laws, drone regulations and the role of externality in the industry, and getting comfortable with the prospect of a drone flying over their houses. In all likeliness, the drone industry will be the investment hub in the recent future with drone stocks as the hottest property.

Drone Market Insights

Surging revenues from drone services arguably is the biggest takeaway from the drone industry as the services market holds the highest growth potential which has indirectly impacted the demand for drone systems and drone software. Services are in great demand across industries such as defense & security, agriculture, mining, utility, oil & gas, transportation, media, telecommunications, entertainment, and architecture, engineering and construction (AEC); requiring the service providers to broaden their adeptness in many verticals.

The top three services in 2021 were mapping/surveying; photography; and inspection/monitoring which were also major drivers to push the growth of the services market over 35%. (We offer expert intelligence regarding the demand & supply of services in multiple industries and applications as well as specific information on drone service providers, current trends and related technologies, drone pilot training, and drone MRO).

With the advent of smart techs such as IoT, deep learning, and artificial intelligence, the drone software, and technology ecosystem has been continuously evolving and innovating. From full autonomy in flight planning and traffic management to complex data analytics and image processing, the drone software & tech market has huge potential. However, the market domination is seen by a few vendors such as DroneDeploy, Precsionhawk, Pix4D, and 3D Robotics. Therefore, integration of software vendors in the drone software market is another key insight.

(We track drone software providers, technology providers, type of software and its applications, technology maturation, and its user-friendliness, in addition to, robustly ranking the leading market players, and forecasting their growth on basis of their activities, revenues, offerings, challenges, opportunities, partnerships, and other multiple parameters).

The drone industry is on exponential growth, with immense demand for fixed-wing and multirotor robots across industries & applications. Global manufacturers of drone systems and platforms are offering competitive multi-mission drones for commercial, civil, and military use, with up-to-date technology. That being said, the commercial drone market ecosystem witnesses the major stir, mainly from the supply side. DJI’s domination has taken a hit, holding little over 50% of the share from a good 70% in the previous year. (We offer competitive benchmarking, cost-benefit analysis of your products/services in the target geography; and information on the investment opportunities and the market penetration of the targeted product/service with an investment strategy).

The Drone Ecosystem contains the following market threads ensuring smooth and efficient drone operations:

Drone Systems: Drone industry is on exponential growth, with immense demand for fixed-wing and multirotor robots across industries & applications. Global manufacturers of drone systems and platforms are offering competitive multi-mission drones for commercial, civil, and military use, with up-to-date technology. We continuously track the leading drone manufacturers across geographies, covering extensive intelligence on their revenues, products/services, growth forecasts, opportunities and challenges, market ranking, partnerships/mergers, and technology trends.

Drone Services: The drone services market arguably holds the highest growth potential in the drone industry. Services are in great demand across industries such as defense & security, agriculture, mining, utility, oil & gas, transportation, media, telecommunications, entertainment, and architecture, engineering and construction (AEC); requiring the service providers to broaden their adeptness in many verticals. In addition to current drone applications such as industrial inspection, precision agriculture, surveying & mapping, aerial remote sensing, security, search & rescue, and package delivery, the opportunity is ever-widening with DAAS (Drone as a service) packaged solution.

Drone Software & Technology: With the advent of smart tech as IoT, deep learning, and artificial intelligence, the drone software, and technology ecosystem has been continuously evolving and innovating. From full autonomy in flight planning and traffic management to complex data analytics and image processing, the drone software & tech market has huge potential. Solving the unsolvable is the core of these innovations, given strict regulations and airspace rules. We keep a tab on industry-specific software, solutions, and disruptive technologies that are shaping the path of drone evolution.

Drone Investment: Drone industry stakeholders are taking timely decisions regarding investments, exploiting great returns the industry offers. The investment value across markets has crossed a billion mark, with drone logistics and transportation, traffic management, and the anti-drone market attracting investors the most. Consequently, drone stocks have a great scope for industry leaders, decision-makers, and consumers.
Our intelligence helps investors and stakeholders to gauge the maturity level and understand the revenue model of the particular market to make informed decisions before investing. We track every investment in the industry including VC funding for the startups while diving into drone partnerships, mergers & acquisitions, innovations, trends, and other relevant parameters affecting the attractiveness of the ecosystem.

Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM): With the exponential growth of the drone market, sharing the skies with these autonomous vehicles safely is being researched and implemented. Furthermore, the fact that they fly at relatively lower altitudes makes it tougher to manage and configure them in the airspace. UTM framework is broad with autonomy and digitalization at the core. We offer extensive intelligence on the UTM technology providers, system providers, service suppliers (flight, info, security), infrastructure developers (navigation communication, surveillance), companies’ products/services, revenues, upcoming opportunities, and technological innovations.

Drone Regulations: The success and realization of the full potential drone industry are not without the precondition of technical, legal, and societal feasibility. Most of the current laws are restrictive that do not permit full automation, high altitude flights, BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight), and other specific permissions. For instance, drone flights are restricted near airports, defense zones, stadiums, emergency areas, and outside the line of sight without a spotter. Currently, property laws and privacy regulations are unsettled as well. We track the status of legal & regulatory standards and assess the development outlook regarding drone adoption. We provide intelligence on upcoming trends, progressions in the ease of exemptions, challenges such as the enforcement of the regulations, stakeholders’ obligations, and other aspects defining drone adoption.

Counter Drone: The demand for counter-drone or anti-drone systems is growing rapidly to tackle the threats posed by drones in civilian and military territories. The counter-drone market is mainly driven by the technologies that meet the safety standards as the regulations remain the biggest challenge for the market. We offer intelligence on both counter-drone measures- detection systems and mitigation/interdiction systems, companies that offer the systems, their size, products and funding, details of the contracts, partnerships & investments, counter-drone technologies, challenges related to technological, regulatory, and legal standards, and upcoming opportunities.