Looking at the commercial market for the US, there are some interesting trends in the choice of drones, uavs and uas. I am talking about the commercial companies who have received FAA approval for their 333 exemption petition. This gives them authorization to conduct their business with restrictions, such as ceiling, proximity to airports, population density and who can physically fly the drone, to name a few.
In the fixed wing category, there is one standout manufacturer, SenseFly. Their ebee currently has over 30% stated usage by US Commercial Drone Flyers (USCDFs). This must be stated on their 333 petition for exemption. In my mind, these are the serious operators (not for hobby) that want to run a legitimate drone business in the US.
Back to the numbers: so in Fixed Wing (FW), Sensefly is dominating with 32%, and followed at #2 by Altavian's Nova and #3 RiteWing's kits. Honorable mention goes to PrecisionHawk, Trimble Navigation and Aerovironment products.
In the MultiRotor (MR) group, it is very clear cut and not likely to change anytime soon. DJI has a stranglehold on the market with over 60% MR share. The ratio of MR vs. FW is more than 4:1. Stay tuned for future posts concerning what business these USCDFs are choosing as their model. That has a lot to do with the choice of FW vs. MR.
OK, back to the numbers for MR. After DJI at #1, the rest of the MR manufacturers are picking up the scraps. At #2, #3 and #4 is Aeryon Labs, DraganFlyer and Tarot. We are talking around 4% of market each, I did say MR scraps didn't I? Some honorable mentions are 3D Robotics, Ascending Technologies and SkyCatch. I am anxious to see how the 3DR's new drone, Solo, performs. If the promo on their site doesn't gather interest, I don't know what would. We'll see how the numbers turn out as more USCDFs come on board.
