Confirmed - Skydio IS getting out of the consumer market

[PrescottRealEstate]

Just got off the phone with "Enterprise Sales" who confirmed that Skydio is getting out of the consumer market. They will continue in the enterprise market. I use it for my real estate business, so they'll sell me one under the enterprise label.

 

[MemphisDrew]

So, if this is true, Skydio will only sell to businesses?

 

[anthonydotcom]

Dang, that's too bad. I was really looking forward to the third gen of this bad boy. Now I'll be paranoid about not being able to replace it IF/when it eventually crashes.

As much as I love my other drones, none of them can touch this quad's OA right now, so I'll end up keeping it and one day it'll just eventually retire and end up as wall decoration.

 

[paularity]

Hmmm I spoke to the big man and he didn't specifically confirm it, but was implied...

 

[BlueHeeler]

This begs to be asked, will the S2/S2+ owners as "Consumers" be grandfathered in as for support and repairs from here on out ??

 

[PrescottRealEstate]

I have a meeting set up for next with with their sales person to find out how much it's going to cost me to continue as an enterprise. I assume that my Skydio Care is still good for another year and a half. I guess I'll be the proud new owner of a $4,000 controller.

My guess is that the enterprise drone will be the same as the one we have now, so repairs and parts should be the same as they are now.

I'll find out more next week.

Also, I looked at the current home page of the site today, and it's all geared towards enterprise. All of the hikers, and bikers, and snowboarders have vanished. Lots of warehouses though.

 

[paularity]

I have a meeting set up for next with with their sales person to find out how much it's going to cost me to continue as an enterprise. I assume that my Skydio Care is still good for another year and a half. I guess I'll be the proud new owner of a $4,000 controller.

It's crazy expensive hey

And literally a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ phone as the hardware in a controller shell

But it's significantly more precise

I haven't done a range test, and it is only loaded with the Skydio Enterprise app, but I'd be curious to know how it affects the S2+ distance

 

[kenmavic2zoom]

this page is still live: Drone That Follows You - Skydio 2+ | Skydio

i don't think current owners should panic, these situation rarely mean you get cut off. yes it's a sad situation indeed but it's not malicious, you'll still get support and repairs and your warranty/care will be honored. only a disreputable company would suspend or cancel all of that and skydio isn't.

the s2 is a great drone but it's just a matter of time until dji steps up and take the reins; they won't miss this opportunity that has been handed to them. might take a few or 10 years but it will be done, for sure.

 

[Ridefreak]

I just picked up a Mini 3 Pro when I looked like SD was bailing on us. I was never a big DJI fan since they require a controller and they're not real great at how I use a drone. I don't expect it to replace the SD2, it's just a way to continue to get aerial footage with the min amount of regulatory restrictions, my content won't be as good in that regard but there's allot of appeal to a 250G drone. I'll be practicing some new techniques (piloting) to best utilize what the mini is good at, I expect my scenic footage will improve and my action footage will suffer. I also plan to be a little more careful with the sd2 now that it's irreplaceable. It's all disappointing.

I'm waiting to see who comes up with a tethered drone, hopefully with some decent higher speed OA.

 

[Ridefreak]

All this has me even more disappointed now. I got a chance to test out the Mini 3 Pro out on my MC yesterday, it's a nice drone and there's allot to like about it; surprisingly good at handling wind and it's got a nice camera and long flight times. Takes great scenery pictures and views of tree tops. I kinda knew that but wanted to try out the drone anyway.

It's useless for how I typically use a drone which is following me for miles in the desert. Tracking relies on visual so it's got a very limited tracking distance from a subject like a motorcycle, it does better with a larger vehicle but it's still limited IMO. If I want to film from the side it's venerable to hitting something since there's no side OA on the mini, That doesn't really matter since the tracking will give you fits above 16 mph in anything but a wide open area.

The Skydio filmed my rides, with the mini I can ride to a nice place and stop and film that but it's not filming my rides, it's filming places along the ride and when it is, I'm not riding. Disappointing for my use but it's not unexpected. Like I said it's still a very nice drone but it's not a replacement for the SD2.

I'm way out there filming some cliff lines and a large hawk was very curious about the drone and kept circling it closely, I thought I got it all on video but I forget that you have to tell it to record and I missed the shot. That was the second situation that I missed some nice video for that reason, it's a painful lesson.

 

[BlueHeeler]

All this has me even more disappointed now. I got a chance to test out the Mini 3 Pro out on my MC yesterday, it's a nice drone and there's allot to like about it; surprisingly good at handling wind and it's got a nice camera and long flight times. Takes great scenery pictures and views of tree tops. I kinda knew that but wanted to try out the drone anyway.

It's useless for how I typically use a drone which is following me for miles in the desert. Tracking relies on visual so it's got a very limited tracking distance from a subject like a motorcycle, it does better with a larger vehicle but it's still limited IMO. If I want to film from the side it's venerable to hitting something since there's no side OA on the mini, That doesn't really matter since the tracking will give you fits above 16 mph in anything but a wide open area.

The Skydio filmed my rides, with the mini I can ride to a nice place and stop and film that but it's not filming my rides, it's filming places along the ride and when it is, I'm not riding. Disappointing for my use but it's not unexpected. Like I said it's still a very nice drone but it's not a replacement for the SD2.

I'm way out there filming some cliff lines and a large hawk was very curious about the drone and kept circling it closely, I thought I got it all on video but I forget that you have to tell it to record and I missed the shot. That was the second situation that I missed some nice video for that reason, it's a painful lesson.

The feeling is mutual ( I have the Mavic 3 Cine, it is awesome ).
With that stated, I have 2 SD2 and 1 SD2+ in my inventory, I am keeping them for now and into the forseeable future because they are very useful drones **. The one thing that keeps popping up in my mind is what if Skydio Corporate decides to create another drone company for the consumer market, a completely separate entity from the current Skydio Brand ?

** If someone here is "desparate" for the SD2, I have one with less than one hour of flight time, it was purchased as a backup for my original SD2, shortly before the SD2+ was released, I am willing to let it go. It is actually a Starter Kit.

 

[kestes210]

I talked to Skydio customer service this past week to send my S2 in for a repair. He told me they love their consumers and have no plans to leave the market.

 

[kenmavic2zoom]

i agree i'm kinda shocked that skydio would leave such a heavy lead ahead of dji when it comes to tracking and just dump their advantage. perhaps skydio has tried everything but doesn't really know what to do with it or how to make it work for them in the consumer market so they'll just abandon it and leave the others to pickup the scraps. after all, the market will respond and others will step up...eventually.

maybe the writing is on the wall and skydio needs to let it go while they are still ahead instead of getting unceremoniously dethroned within the next decade as their advantage dwindles and the competitors figure it out. because we know ai is the next step and there's still room for someone else to get there first. maybe as well focus on commercials and government since the reins seems to have been handed to them; would be foolish to look away.