WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) — Chinese drone maker SZ DJI Technology Co. Ltd. has established a strong early lead in the U.S. commercial market as companies turn to its inexpensive, light-weight flying devices for a host of uses from shooting films to mapping and site inspections.
Sixty-one of the 129 companies that received regulatory approval to use unmanned aircraft are using DJI drones, or 47 percent, far ahead of its nearest rival, a Reuters review of federal records as of April 9 shows. Nearly 400 other companies, more than half of the 695 businesses still awaiting approval, have applied to use DJI drones.
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Shenzhen-based DJI, whose best-selling Phantom 2 Vision+ drone retails for around US$1,200 in the United States, estimates that it already has about 70 percent of the commercial market worldwide and a larger portion of the consumer market.
Federal records also suggest that DJI is quickly expanding its U.S. market share, thanks in part to a new process speeding federal exemptions for companies that intend to use drones previously vetted by regulators.
DJI accounted for about a third of the roughly 50 exemptions granted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from last September through mid-March. But it has claimed just over half of the 89 exemptions received since then.
Industry experts say basic drones such as DJI’s are likely to drive the U.S. commercial market for the foreseeable future, meeting business demand for uses such as aerial photography for site inspections, real estate promotions and video production.
The market for more sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly used in agriculture, is being limited by FAA policy that restricts commercial drone flights to line-of-sight operations at altitudes of 500 feet (152 meters) or less. Those rules are complicating efforts by e-commerce giants Amazon.com and Google Inc. to develop high-tech drones capable of delivering packages over long distances.
“Those limitations effectively rule out larger UAVs, which are not going to be cost-effective with that sort of restriction,” said Philip Finnegan, the Teal Group’s director of corporate analysis. “It’s really going to drive things toward the low end of the market.”
The Teal Group expects the U.S. market for commercial drones to reach $5.4 billion in sales by 2023.
