Plans To Focus On Anafi Quadcopter Going Forward

Parrot is reportedly retiring its entry-level consumer drones in order to focus on the Anafi quadcopter for the commercial and consumer markets.

According to Digital Trends, the tech site Wirecutter reported in July that Parrot is ending sales of its smaller drones. That report was backed up by a report from The Verge that the company has "stopped production and development of any drone but the Anafi and its variations."

Parrot has been working to grow its commercial drone business for a while. It launched the Anafi in 2018 to generally positive attention. The aircraft was very likely one of the reasons that Parrot won a DOD contract in May that will see the company, along with five other dronemakers, to develop small reconnaissance aircraft to be used by soldiers in the battlefield. The six companies are sharing an $11 million pool of money to develop prototypes for a drone that can be carried by soldiers, giving them increased situational awareness of the battlespace.

Parrot's offering in the competition will likely be based on the Anafi, which can capture and transmit 4K video, fly for 25 minutes on a single charge, has a 2-mile range and weighs under a pound. A recent version of Anafi was released with a thermal imaging camera.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report