After shedding a third of its workforce a few months in the past, Parrot simply introduced that they’re launching a Professional division centered completely on the “prosumer” market.
Parrot at present has an costly line of industrial drones that promote for $11,000 and up, and a line of client drones that promote for as little as $100. The new Professional division will focus on the candy spot between these two extremes, with drones that might be offered within the $1,000 to $5,000 vary for small and medium enterprise purposes.
Drones on this “prosumer”-focused division might be geared toward supporting industrial purposes similar to development and agriculture, with instruments that may be operated with out the necessity for a skilled pilot.
This announcement from Parrot comes proper on the heels of 3D Robotics releasing the information that they raised $53 million in a collection D funding spherical, with the cash raised going to assist the expansion of their construction-focused platform Site Scan.
This information, together with DJI’s lately launched Matrice collection and Yuneec’s Typhoon H920, is making it look increasingly more like development and ag purposes could also be the largest new sectors for development within the drone trade.
The Drones of Parrot’s New Professional Division
Parrot’s new Professional division will add further options and know-how to current drones in Parrot’s portfolio—such because the Disco and the Bebop—to make them appropriate for development, agriculture, actual property, and different purposes.
Three of the drones which have been introduced for inclusion in Parrot’s Professional division are mainly upgraded variations of the 2 Parrot drones talked about above, the Bebop and the Disco.
The Disco-Pro AG
Application: Agriculture
The Disco-Pro is an upgraded model of the Disco, which comes with high-performance sensors and autonomous flight-planning software program, geared toward gathering information for farmers and agricultural cooperatives. The Disco-Pro might be accessible for $four,500 beginning in June.
“[The Disco-Pro AG] offers farmers and small agricultural cooperatives an ‘end-to-end’ solution to easily and quickly obtain reliable information on the state of their crops, such as wheat, barley, colza and corn.”
– Parrot web site
The Bebop-Pro 3D
Applications: Construction and Real Estate
The Bebop-Pro 3D is an upgraded model of the Bebop Pro, which comes with aerial picture seize for 3D modeling, and is aimed primarily on the development and actual property markets. The Bebop-Pro 3D might be accessible for $1,100 beginning in June.
“The Bebop-Pro 3D is especially targeted at professionals including real-estate agents, architects, craftsmen and property insurance brokers.… and enables them to easily create promotional videos or interactive 3D models, to build quotes of a building, to supervise a worksite and to print 3D models.”
– Parrot web site
The Bebop-Pro Thermal
Applications: Construction and Real Estate
The Bebop-Pro Thermal is an upgraded model of the Bebop Pro, which comes with a thermal imaging digicam, and can be aimed primarily on the development and actual property markets. Release date and worth haven’t but been introduced for the Thermal.
“[The Bebop-Pro Thermal] enables inspection and thermal detection companies, roofers, plumbers, building workers, and also firefighters, to get thermal and radiometry information, live and/or in pictures.”
– Parrot web site
Stiff Competition
Parrot is likely one of the few corporations that really competes with DJI, however the competitors is kind of stiff.
DJI holds 50% of the market share for industrial and client drones in North America, in response to Colin Snow of Skylogic Research. For drones within the $500 to $1,000 worth vary, DJI held about 36% of the market by models offered in North America final 12 months. In comparability, Parrot captured round 7% of the market in the identical worth vary.
As we mentioned on the opening to this text, Parrot lately laid off 300 staff, which represented about a third of its whole drone personnel.
Following the layoffs Parrot reorganized to concentrate on UAVs for industrial purposes. The announcement of Parrot’s new Professional division is the primary main step ahead on this reorganization.
The major explanation for Parrot going by way of such radical restructuring is that they’ve primarily misplaced the buyer battle to DJI. In the fourth quarter of 2016 Parrot’s client gross sales have been down 15%, and projections confirmed that client gross sales have been unlikely to generate worthwhile development, and the layoffs and restructuring ensued.
However, with regards to excessive finish industrial drones, Parrot could have a leg up.
Unlike DJI, Parrot has been working within the agriculture and development sectors of the drone trade for a few years, primarily by way of its industrial subsidiary Sensefly, which sells a wide selection of drones that vary in worth between $11,000 and $25,000.
Sensefly partnered with the ag platform Agribotix not too way back, and it appears to be like like Parrot could also be poising itself to nook the prosumer drone market with this new launch of their Professional division.
Zacc Dukowitz
Zacc Dukowitz is the Director of Marketing for UAV Coach. A author with skilled expertise in schooling know-how and digital advertising and marketing, Zacc is keen about reporting on the drone trade at a time when UAVs will help us reside higher lives. Zacc additionally holds the rank of nidan in Aikido, a Japanese martial artwork, and is a extensively revealed fiction author. Zacc has an MFA from the University of Florida and a BA from St. John’s College. Follow @zaccdukowitz or take a look at zaccdukowitz.com to learn his work.