Hitting the ground running in 2019, dronelife.com started a timely conversation this year about the key trends in the commercial drone industry to focus on. As the industry consolidates the market will become a harsher environment as companies race for time and funding to successfully introduce their products. Meanwhile, a lot of new and massively funded companies will pop up having done their homework in stealth mode alone or under the wing of larger corporations. To kick off the year, here are the trends, laws, tech and players to watch this year.s
Responsible Consolidation
As the hype around drones dwindles, the ‘winners’ in the market will continue developing technologies to fully integrate drones and begin to offer end-2-end (E2E) solutions, a combination of hardware and software which can fully meet the need of customers without the need for another vendor. However, consolidation is not a one-way street, there are risks of companies expanding irresponsibly. For example, PrecisionHawk recently acquired HAZON Solutions and InspecTools, two companies in the drone energy sector, yet they also allegedly laid off 40 staff members. While PrecisionHawk has now acquired tools that should enable them to combine collecting and analysing drone data, their downsizing suggests that they may have been unprepared for such steps.
From Prosumer to Professional
As we near the end of the proof of concept phase in the commercial drone industry and as the technology is proven to be reliable, there will be a growing demand for job specific drone platforms. Yet, on the other hand the Chinese giant DJI still dominates the market with over 70% of the share. 2019 will thus be an interesting year as we’ll be able to see how these two dynamics affect each other.
For Sale Rent
We have already seen a shift from local data processing to cloud-based data processing. Through the leasing model initial software costs have decreased for many making that software more affordable for many companies. This trend is likely to continue and seep into the hardware market, as smaller companies continue to enter the market seeking affordable solutions to high entry costs. Companies like Kespry and LiDARUSA companies are businesses the opportunity to lease drones as opposed, to having to purchase them. This will provide a cheaper option for companies to trial drones thus lowering the entry barrier to adopting drone technology.
You can read the full article, which includes more trends in drone technology, regulations and new startups to watch.
Source & Image Credit: Dronelife
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