American drone specialist Skydio has announced that it is pulling out of the consumer drone market. The move comes as a big blow to those looking for a best-in-class non-Chinese drone to fly - and ensures that industry leaders DJI has even less competition than ever before. Skydio will now concentrate on producing drones for enterprise customers – to big businesses, the armed forces, and first responders.
"The impact we’re having with our enterprise and public sector customers has become so compelling that it demands nothing less than our full focus and attention," explains Skydio CEO Adam Bry in an announcement on the company website. "As a result, I have made the very difficult decision to sunset our consumer business in order to put everything we’ve got into serving our enterprise and public sector customers".
The California-based company's Skydio 2+ was one of the best camera drones - which prioritized subject tracking and autonomous control. It was popular in the USA (and rarely found on sale outside North America) - appealing to those looking to avoid buying Chinese drones.
Skydio is not the first mainstream drone company to sunset its consumer drone business. Parrot stopped producing its popular Anafi drones in 2021, and saw its profits swell by concentrating on the enterprise zone.
Skydio says that it will continue to sell accessories - such as beacons, controllers, batteries and propellers - and provide customer support for those who bought a Skydio 2 or 2+.
Meanwhile, Skydio has announced that it will be unveiling its next generation of drone technologies at its first-ever user conference on September 20.
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