The US has announced it will ban all new models of foreign-made drones, a move which will lock all Chinese drone companies out of the US market, one of the world’s most lucrative for civilian and commercial drones.
The biggest casualty is DJI, which is the world’s largest drone manufacturer, and produces around half of all drones in the US market at present. While DJI has faced restrictions in the past, such a blanket ban will raise the stakes.
Losing access to the US market will be a blow to DJI and they will have to shift their focus to other markets. This will presumably create space for US drone manufacturers to fill the void, although they struggle to match DJI’s price, ease of use and manufacturing scale. The demand for drones from everyone, from personal photographers, through to the Department of Defense, is not going to disappear. Is this going to create a black market for DJIs being smuggled into the US?