Unmanned aerial vehicles, mostly known to the public as drones, have increased in popularity over the years. In fact, the drone industry is booming!
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also estimates that small, hobbyist drones will more than triple in number from 1.1 million drones in 2016 to 3.5 million drones by 2021.
Although there are still hurdles in terms of safety, security, insurance, privacy, and public nuisance, the drone industry just keeps growing.
Despite starting out in the military being used for difficult missions, drones have become increasingly accessible to the public. Statistics are clear that many people purchase drones for purely recreational uses and so manufacturers continue to market them to those who use them as hobbies.
Registration
The commercial growth of drones, however, prompted the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to enforce strict rules to register them. In addition, they also encouraged users to be more responsible in drone usage.
The FAA’s online registration system went into effect on December 21, 2015, which required all unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) weighing more than 0.55 pounds (250 grams) and less than 55 pounds to be registered online or by the paper-based aircraft registry. With the continuing registration, more than 900,000 owners had already registered with the FAA by September 2018. In the year 2019, the number of drones registered was more than 2 million.
SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. (e.g. DJI), a Chinese company, is still the dominant brand for drone aircraft purchases, with a 74% global market share. According to Recode, DJI has more than 66% market share of drones priced between $1,000-$2,000 and 67% of the market from $2,000-$4,000. DJI continues to dominate the market in every product category, from drone aircraft at every price range to accessories such as payloads and software.
Industries
According to the Drone Deploy Report, the industries that have been the fastest to successfully use drone aerial data come from construction, agriculture, and mining.
According to the Economist, while commercial drones represent only 6% of all the sales of drones in the U.S.A, nevertheless it makes up 60% of the revenue from the drone industry because of their high price relative to consumer models.
The growth of drones is expected to impact more than just the online retail and package delivery industries. The following are just a few of the numerous industries where drones make a huge difference:
Remote pilots will be needed to fly commercial drones and could reach as high as 422,000 by 2021. There were more than 2 million drones registered by the end of 2018 in the US. Consumer drones are rapidly becoming mainstream while commercial use is growing across various industries. In fact, the number of U.S. commercial drones is expected to continue to grow from 42,000 drones in 2016 to more than 420,000 by 2021, according to a report by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Filming and photography are expected to emerge as the industries with the greatest revenue- generating segment between 2019-2025. Already in 2018 they were valued at around $1.86 billion and they are expecting significant growth for the foreseeable future.
Drones are increasingly being used to shoot action sequences in movies from an aerial view and photographing inaccessible places.
Journalism is being transformed by UAVs because it is able to cover news in areas where people are prohibited to work.
Construction sites estimate that using drones has led to about a 55% increase in the safety of the workers.
Logistics and transportation market was estimated to be valued at $11.20 billion by 2022 and is projected to reach $29.06 billion by 2027, at a combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.01%.
E-commerce could help fuel the drone industry’s growth with 79% of US internet users are at least somewhat likely to select drones as a delivery option, according to a survey by Walter Sands Communications. A United States Postal Service survey found that 56% of consumers believe drone delivery will be faster, while 53% believe deliveries made by drones would be environmentally friendly.
Insurance industry is estimated to save as much as $6.8 billion per year by reducing costs related to data collection, risk evaluation, and fraud, according to consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Law enforcement estimates that an investigation that may take up to 3 hours gathering information manually, a drone reduces to a mere 45 minutes by overflying and documenting an accident. That is almost 1/4th of the time!
Military forces worldwide have found unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to have been an integral part of the military. Surveillance and reconnaissance are probably the biggest military drone applications as well as intelligence gathering and chemical detection. More than 19,000 drones carrying payloads that have video cameras and infrared night vision cameras are in the arsenal of the US Army, Air Force, Marines, and Special Operations.
Military spending continues to be the main driver of drone spending in the coming years. It is estimated that global militaries will spend up to $70 billion on drones by the end of this year.
Farmers have found that drones are able to inspect up to 1,000 acres of farmland a day, according to Goldman Sachs.
The results of a survey of 269 farmers by Munich Reinsurance America indicate that 75% of all farmers in the US—from those with less than 100 acres to those with more than 5,000—have begun to use drones. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) estimates that the global market for agricultural drones could be worth more than $32 billion due to drones’ ability to assist farmers in areas such as precision agriculture, monitoring crops, livestock and soil conditions. crop surveillance and fertilizer application.
According to The Economic Report, the drone industry is expected to grow to more than $82.1 billion in annual revenue by 2025, and will most likely, be driven by the consumer market. Pricewaterhouse- Coopers (PwC) estimated in 2018 that the value of “drone powered solutions in all industries are a staggering $127 billion.”
Unmanned aerial vehicles have not only increased in popularity over the years, but has become a truly big business.
