Some Analysts Believe The Chinese Company Has 85% Of The Market

We've seen several stories recently about the woes of some consumer drone companies. Parrot recently laid off about a third of its drone workforce, 3D Robotics let about 150 people go. GoPro had its well-documented problems. And Lily folded before the flying camera ever reached the market.

MarketWatch reports that on the other side of that coin is DJI. The privately-held Chinese company has a valuation of $8 billion and its sales volume increased 100 fold from 2011 to 2015. The company's two principal products are the Phantom and the foldable Mavic. Some analysts think that DJI has as much as 85 percent of the consumer drone market right now.

Other manufacturers say that a major issue is keeping up with DJI's rapid pace of development and its aggressive pricing. Former 3D Robotics president Jeevan Kalanithi wrote in an internal email obtained by MarketWatch that the company "made too many Solos, especially given how fast our competitors dropped prices and flooded the market."

Shan Phillips, former Yuneec CEO, told MarketWatch last year that DJI was "crowding the market the best they can." He said that DJI instituted its price cuts for a reason.

(Image from file)

FMI: Full Article