Projected To Grow Over 25 Percent, Reaching $17 Billion Valuation By 2024

The commercial drone market is forecast to rise over 25 percent by 2024, according to a new report from Global Market Insights. The growth during the forecast period is due to the increasing application across sectors like agriculture, delivery, media and real estate. Since its inception, commercial UAVs have been used for capturing photographs and videos for various user purposes. However, the product's capabilities have led to increasing application across various industries in the past couple of years.

Commercial drones are currently widely used in civil applications like smart agriculture for mapping and studying of crop data. They are used in real estate to capture images for 3D rendering of structures and to deliver package to customers from retail chains. The technology is also used by mass media and journalists to gain news coverage through closer aerial view.

Technological innovations in the commercial drone market is one of the key factors anticipated to drive industry trends. Integration of AI (artificial intelligence) and advanced machine learning has enabled several new avenues for UAV developers and end-users. For instance, in 2016, e-commerce giant Amazon successfully completed its first ever commercial deliveries in Cambridge, UK using UAV.

Similarly, U.S. based robotics firm Zipline deployed its fleet of drones to deliver blood for medical relief in remote areas in Rwanda, East Africa, and has further revealed plans to utilize civil drone capabilities to facilitate one of the largest drone delivery networks in Tanzania.

Despite growing traction across industries, stringent government regulations on the use of commercial UAVs owing to privacy and security purposes could impact market share over the forecast period. Commercial drones can sometimes be misused by criminals and hackers who have tried to intercept, manipulate or jam drone controls for exploitation. Aspects such as these will most likely affect commercial drone market outlook in the forecast years.

Based on product type, the rotary blade drone market has witnessed immense traction lately. The demand is mostly observed for single and multi-rotor drones that can be used across a wide range of commercial applications. Its advanced rotor mechanism gives it an edge over fixed wing drone and enables it to offer better flight controllability. Moreover, the product's superior design makes it an ideal choice for applications like mapping, surveillance, photography, and monitoring. Rotary blade drones are also widely used to deliver packages due to their higher payload capacity and enhanced control precision.

In terms of application, the agriculture industry is expected to help the commercial drone market share grow considerably by the end of the forecast period. Drones are used across agricultural operations for conducting operations like soil, plant and field analysis, and for crop monitoring, spraying and irrigation.

Other uses include developing an accurate 3D maps for soil analysis, which can guide in planning of planting patterns. A drone-driven method can also help farmers analyze soil to offer necessary data regarding nitrogen levels and irrigation management. Factors such as these could help increase productivity across agriculture landscapes and could in turn boost the commercial UAV market.

According to regional trends, North America has been the dominant region driving the global commercial drone market share, owing to increasing adoption and demand for high-definition camera-based drones for filming, video and aerial photography. The permission to use UAVs for commercial applications by the FAA is also estimated to significantly contribute towards the industry's growth in the region.

Moreover, supportive federal initiatives could further help boost demand in commercial drone market. For instance, in 2017, the U.S. government launched a program to enhance testing of commercial drones to conduct night operations and BVLOS flights. The program is expected to accelerate the integration of UAVs into the NAS, and to lead to UAV detection and tracking, along with eliminating a few limits on its utilization.

Initiatives like these could positively impact growth prospects of the commercial drone market in North America. Moreover, the presence of a large number of industry players like Aeryon Labs, PrecisionHawk and 3D Robotics could lead to way to new advancements and investments in the North America market over the coming years.

(Source: GMI news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.gminsights.com