Welcome to SkydioPilots.com
Sign up and join the discussion!
Sign up

Is skydio on the verge of leaving the consumer market?

Addos

Member
Joined
May 1, 2020
Messages
19
Reaction score
7
According to Brendan Schulman (@dronelaws):
"Among the more interesting tidbits from #XPO23 that I learned from reliable sources is that a major US drone manufacturer is going to exit the consumer market, to focus only on enterprise/government/military. Just as happened with @Parrot, actually. Unsurprising but newsworthy."

 
If this Schulman guy knows who they are, why is he holding back, just say so.

Anyway, I would not consider Skydio as being a " major US Drone manufacturer " , they are still a young company with a small market share, but that's just me.
 
Well looks like he pretty much confirmed it on the Facebook owners group as someone asked why they are out of stock
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2023-05-18 at 5.38.34 am.png
    Screenshot 2023-05-18 at 5.38.34 am.png
    289.2 KB · Views: 27
If outside sources prove to be accurate, I personally find it pathetic that we have to learn about it from them and not directly from the company itself.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Addos
I mean the fact that all the kits have been sold out on their website for some time is a pretty big indicator this could be true

time will tell. I'll see what I can find out
 
hmmm, might be a good time to be on the look out for closeout on accessories like beacon, battery, and controller. i don't blame skydio, very good drone but wasn't getting the respect they deserve. too many people still thought other drones could "follow me" just as well when in reality, nothing even comes close. you almost can't believe what skydio can do unless you see it in person. hard to translate over the video "magic" you see with other drones.
 
  • Like
Reactions: anthonydotcom
Honestly the skydio 2 is clunky. The autonomy is cool at first, but the drone flies like a boat. This is basically them throwing in the towel and admitting their drones will never meet consumer needs/demands. And besides, why deal with complaining consumers, when you have governments that will happily overpay for an inferior product. Skydio really should license their software and just get out of the hardware business.
 
Honestly the skydio 2 is clunky. The autonomy is cool at first, but the drone flies like a boat. This is basically them throwing in the towel and admitting their drones will never meet consumer needs/demands. And besides, why deal with complaining consumers, when you have governments that will happily overpay for an inferior product. Skydio really should license their software and just get out of the hardware business.
Have you used the Enterprise Controller?

I'd agree on principle that the re-purposed Parrot Controller is pretty doughy, but I've been flying like 12" away from things doing close visual inspections with the S2+ and regardless of the dated sensor even with that stock controller it handled the precision I needed fine

The Enterprise Controller is hideously expensive, but actually very good - is it enough for Joe Public to justify, definitely not

There's no way I'd be contemplating doing this kinda high risk stuff on a live gas plant with another drone

Pretty much purely leveraging the fact I've had this thing pinging around my head, dodging trees at 40kph for 3 years so I'm very familiar with it's behavioural quirks

Our competition has a DJI FPV in a purpose built roll cage - has to get permission to fly BVLOS from CASA - and is only getting 8 mins in the air - plus they need an additional spotter - that is clunky

If their next drone address the shortcomings of a 3.5 year old product, by adding RTK and better cameras to in a different, arguably more lucrative market, especially coasting on the US made / anti-China sentiment in my country and yours (right or wrong) I can see why they would potentially bail on the flying GoPro concept

Autonomy is coming and it's coming fast
 
Honestly the skydio 2 is clunky. The autonomy is cool at first, but the drone flies like a boat. This is basically them throwing in the towel and admitting their drones will never meet consumer needs/demands. And besides, why deal with complaining consumers, when you have governments that will happily overpay for an inferior product. Skydio really should license their software and just get out of the hardware business.
Depends on what you use it for. No other done will track automatously while simultaneously avoiding obstacles reliably, none. It's OA is not only cool, it's mandatory for how I use a drone. The other drones aren't clunky they're unusable in that regard so it really depends on how you use it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VEGASROBBI
Ah, how dumb I was to think they stopped producing it since Skydio 3 will be announced.
I'm gonna sell my Skydios and place my bets on Autel's mmWave radars to reach the level of autonomy Skydio has with its cameras.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Addos
Ah, how dumb I was to think they stopped producing it since Skydio 3 will be announced.
I'm gonna sell my Skydios and place my bets on Autel's mmWave radars to reach the level of autonomy Skydio has with its cameras.

I mean, skydio was already kind of rubbing me the wrong way with how buggy everything has been.
Consumers have definitely seemed like an after thought.
But the fact that they were using consumers to get enough capital so they could get their foot in the door of the more lucrative government sector is kinda disgusting.
No wonder they were pushing so hard for banning DJI drones, they wanted to monopolize usa government contracts.
 
You're killing me.

I do real estate videos in a forest community. This thing can fly through trees and avoid everything like magic. It's perfect for what I need. I have amazed my sellers with my amazing drone skills just by using keyframes and pressing play.

Tracking is great, but OA is what I need. What other drone has that level of OA?
 
  • Like
Reactions: VEGASROBBI
Ah, how dumb I was to think they stopped producing it since Skydio 3 will be announced.
I'm gonna sell my Skydios and place my bets on Autel's mmWave radars to reach the level of autonomy Skydio has with its cameras.
There still might be an S3 of the commercial variant, no?

I wouldn't be so quick to bank on DJI and Autel. I'm no expert, but I give it 3-5 years before any of them can match the OA performance of the S2. I still have 7 months left on Skydio Care and the drone is likely good for another 2 years after that....so I'm keeping my S2+ if it's going to be the last of its kind.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ridefreak
There still might be an S3 of the commercial variant, no?

I wouldn't be so quick to bank on DJI and Autel. I'm no expert, but I give it 3-5 years before any of them can match the OA performance of the S2. I still have 7 months left on Skydio Care and the drone is likely good for another 2 years after that....so I'm keeping my S2+ if it's going to be the last of its kind.
I'd say so the X2 is pretty much the same eyes and brains as the S2+ - just in a more rugged, larger form with a bigger battery and better range

It costs 5x the price and for a lot of customers the value just isn't there

I actually probably couldn't do most of my scope with a larger drone anyways, squeezing through tight gaps with the S2+
 
There still might be an S3 of the commercial variant, no?

I wouldn't be so quick to bank on DJI and Autel. I'm no expert, but I give it 3-5 years before any of them can match the OA performance of the S2. I still have 7 months left on Skydio Care and the drone is likely good for another 2 years after that....so I'm keeping my S2+ if it's going to be the last of its kind.
Definitely not. Once they say they quit the consumer sector, they'll do it forever. It was pretty obvious this was their end goal. Especially with the Blue sUAS program.
They had a consumer platform to promote their product and improve their products. We're all beta testers :D

In the US, the Military Industrial Complex is the most profitable thing to be a part of.
Autel is experimenting with mmWave radars on their Evo Max series and they're promising a high level of flight autonomy. I hope they deliver.
With DJI's budget, they'll probably make a whole series dedicated to sports tracking. It's what they do best.
 
Regardless of Skydio's decision to exit the consumer market which remains to be seen, their S2+ Enterprise has a home in my tool box, the OA is incredible, I also have the DJI Mavic 3 Cine ( exclusively for aerial photography ) I could not maneuver into tight spots like the S2+, but it does have a much better cam and sensor.

I really have my fingers crossed for Skydio to stay in the consumer market or at least release a newer drone with cams and sensors to rival that of DJI . I hope somebody at Skydio is paying attention to this Forum.
 

New Posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
1,600
Messages
12,368
Members
2,363
Latest member
ViktorSinatorov0fup