What gives? We're a big and growing consumer market? We ought to be getting attention from everywhere, but instead, there's one looming presence in the shape of DJI, making it very hard to see and hear the other contenders. That's a shame because we want to flirt with more possibilities than ever-improving battery life and camera specs. Skydio was perhaps the most interesting alternative out there – the Skydio 2+ had a whole different way of thinking with its on-board AI – so it seems especially sad to be typing a lament for the demise of its consumer division.
It's happened before, though, and, tragically, it wasn't hard to anticipate here either. Here's why. Remember Parrot's snappy, innovative little Anafi drone? It was doing the rounds in around 2019 while DJI had yet to release the Mavic 2 but was attempting to woo consumers with the plasticky Mavic Air. Parrot didn't just attempt to compete on camera or battery spec grounds, but even came up with an FPV option that wasn't out of reach for normal consumers.
