DJI loses market share in US to Autel and Skydio, says Skywatch

DJI's market share in the has declined by 7% since 2018 in favor of competitors Autel Robotics and Skydio. That reports the American insurance company SkyWatch, based on a recent survey among customers. In 2018, 94% of commercial drone pilots insured with SkyWatch still used DJI devices. By mid-2021, that percentage has fallen to 87%.

DJI loses market share in US to Autel and Skydio, says Skywatch

Autel and Skydio in the elevator

According to SkyWatch figures, and in particular have benefited from the declining popularity of DJI drones. The market share of Autel Robotics, known for the EVO I and EVO II series of drones, saw its market share grow from 1% in 2018 to 5% in 2021. Skydio drones are now used by 1.5% of SkyWatch customers.

Dji Loses Market Share In Us To Autel And Skydio, Says Skywatch

Higher price tag

Another remarkable outcome of the research is that the insured equipment has an increasing price tag. Currently, the average value of an insured drone is just over $2,900, an increase of 22% compared to 2018. At that time, an average drone was insured for just under $2,300.

According to SkyWatch marketing director Ilan Yusim, this is because customers want more and more features in their drones: “As market share diversifies, more companies are fighting for their place year after year with newer, feature-packed drones. With newer drones, companies are willing to spend more on their drones for more advanced features and technology, hence the rising prices.”

Dji Loses Market Share In Us To Autel And Skydio, Says Skywatch

Dji Loses Market Share In Us To Autel And Skydio, Says Skywatch 1

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Dji Loses Market Share In Us To Autel And Skydio, Says Skywatch 2

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This article first appeared on Dronewatch and is written by Wiebe de Jager who is also a DroneXL contributor.

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Wiebe de Jager
Wiebe de Jager

Wiebe de Jager is the founder of Dronewatch and author of several bestselling books about drone photography. Wiebe is a certified drone pilot and has a full ROC license.

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2 Comments

  1. the fact that the US has placed DJI on the blacklist, they have also not had a major drone release since August/Sept 2018 for the higher end users in the Mavic 2 pro series, the fact that the competition has also increased, they have seemingly stopped production of the phantom line, the Inspire series seems to have been also cancelled or forgotton about, their last several releases have all been mid range and budget drones, the mini, mini 2, air 2, air 2s, there is now a global chip shortage, and people probably are not as likely to upgrade their drones ever year, a whole raft of reasons for a market share drop

  2. DJI is certainly missing new sales by not having up to date Mavic Pro model.

    Also from European perspective Air 2S was facepalm as it lacks C1 drone classification, which would have allowed operation in the least restrictive A1 category:
    Without classification it’s now in A2 operating category and after transition period ends in end of 2022, it will be in in the most restrictive A3 category.
    Otherwise it would have been valid upgrade for hobbyers from original Mavic Pro /Platinum.

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