POPULARITY
What did we learn in 2018 about where the drone industry is headed? For that question, we turn to Colin Snow, CEO and Founder of Skylogic Research, LLC (also known as Drone Analyst®). Skylogic Research is a research, content and advisory services firm providing research-based insights on commercial drone market segments. Its mission is to help companies make critical investment decisions with confidence. Colin is a 25 year technology industry veteran with a background in market research, enterprise software, electronics, digital imaging, and mobility. His experience includes aerial photography as well as making, programming, and piloting remote control aircraft. He holds an MBA from Florida Atlantic University, is a member of all major UAS industry groups including both AUVSI and AMA, and also holds an FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot certification. In this edition of the Drone Radio Show, Colin talks about the forces that shaped the drone industry in 2018 and what we might expect in 2019. There’s no better person from which to gain insights into the drone industry than Colin Snow.
Jeff Bezos boldly predicted five years ago that drones would be carrying Amazon packages to people’s doorsteps by now. Amazon customers are still waiting. And it’s unclear when, if ever, this particular order by the company’s founder and CEO will arrive. Bezos made billions of dollars by transforming the retail sector. But overcoming the regulatory hurdles and safety issues posed by drones appears to be a challenge even for the world’s wealthiest man. The result is a blown deadline on his claim to CBS’ “60 Minutes” in December 2013 that drones would be making deliveries within five years. The day may not be far off when drones will carry medicine to people in rural or remote areas, but the marketing hype around instant delivery of consumer goods looks more and more like just that — hype. Drones have a short battery life, and privacy concerns can be a hindrance, too. “I don’t think you will see delivery of burritos or diapers in the suburbs,” says drone analyst Colin Snow. Drone usage has grown rapidly in some industries, but mostly outside the retail sector and direct interaction with consumers. The government estimates that about 110,000 commercial drones are operating in U.S. airspace, and the number is expected to soar to about 450,000 in 2022. They are being used in rural areas for mining and agriculture, for inspecting power lines and pipelines, and for surveying. Amazon says it is still pushing ahead with plans to use drones for quick deliveries, though the company is staying away from fixed timelines. “We are committed to making our goal of delivering packages by drones in 30 minutes or less a reality,” says Amazon spokeswoman Kristen Kish. The Seattle-based online retail giant says it has drone development centers in the United States, Austria, France, Israel and the United Kingdom. Delivery companies have been testing the use of drones to deliver emergency supplies and to cover ground quickly in less populated areas. By contrast, package deliveries would be concentrated in office parks and neighborhoods where there are bigger issues around safety and privacy. In May, the Trump administration approved a three-year program for private companies and local government agencies to test drones for deliveries, inspections and other tasks. But pilot programs by major delivery companies suggest few Americans will be greeted by package-bearing drones any time soon. United Parcel Service tested launching a drone from a delivery truck that was covering a rural route in Florida. DHL Express, the German delivery company, tested the use of drones to deliver medicine from Tanzania to an island in Lake Victoria. Frank Appel, the CEO of DHL’s parent company, Deutsche Post AG, said “over the next couple of years” drones will remain a niche vehicle and not widely used. He said a big obstacle is battery life. “If you have to recharge them every other hour, then you need so many drones and you have to orchestrate that. So good luck with that,” he told The Associated Press. Appel said human couriers have another big advantage over drones: They know where customers live and which doorbell to ring. “To program that in IT is not that easy and not cheap,” he said. Analysts say it will take years for the Federal Aviation Administration to write all the rules to allow widespread drone deliveries. Snow, the CEO of Skylogic Research, says a rule permitting operators to fly drones beyond their line of sight — so critical to deliveries — is at least 10 years away. A method will be needed to let law enforcement identify drones flying over people — federal officials are worried about their use by terrorists. While the rules are being written, companies will rely on waivers from the FAA to keep experimenting and running small-scale pilot programs. “People like DHL and the rest of them (will say), ‘Hey, we can deliver via drone this parcel package to this island,’ but that’s not the original vision that Amazon presented,” Snow says. There is a long lis...
Colin Snow, AKA "The Drone Analyst", joins the podcast for the 3rd year in a row to talk about his company, Skylogic Research's, annual report on the drone industry for 2018. Colin and Ian dive into five topics and key insights: • DJI's complete domination of 70%+ market share • Customers are buying more expensive drones • Drone service providers are reporting little revenue • High-accuracy mapping techniques are not being adopted quickly • Drone fleet sizes are small and number of flights are lower than anticipated
Every year, Skylogic Research’s annual Drone Market Sector Report acts as a reality check for the hype merchants and chronic optimists with its accurate bottom-up assessment of the state of the industry. InterDrone spoke with Skylogic's CEO and Founder, Colin Snow for a peek into the report's findings and what has and hasn't changed since 2017. The UAS space is maturing, but still finding its ground as fleet sizes remain small and most enterprise adoption is only just getting started. Three quarters of businesses and public agencies report drone programs as young as two years old. That being said, professional use of drones is growing. Find out about the current landscape of the drone space by listening to the episode and downloading the report for yourself. Find the report here: http://droneanalyst.com/research/research-studies/2018-drone-market-sector-report-purchase
2017 was a banner year for the drone industry. While the drone market as a whole grew, plenty of assumptions were proven false. Colin Snow, The Drone Analyst, is CEO of Skylogic Research, who recently released an 88-page report titled, "2017 Drone Market Sector Report". Colin's report shows proves things that we already knew, like DJI having 72% global market share on drone sales, but also shows surprising developments, like the vast majority of all people (68%) who purchase drones above 250 grams intend to use those drones for some kind of professional (commercial) use. Ian and Colin discuss these facts and much more from the latest Skylogic Research report.