The consumer drone market continues to exhibit dramatic growth as users look to use them to enrich their pastimes and activities. According to ABI Research, more than 90 million consumer unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will ship during 2025, up from 4.9 million in 2014 with a CAGR of 30.4% over the period. Consumer drone revenues in 2025 are forecast to reach US$4.6 billion.
Toy/hobbyist drone shipments accounted for 30% of consumer UAV revenues in 2014, while the prosumer segment captured 69%. ABI Research anticipates that toy/hobbyist UAV revenues will surpass prosumer UAV revenues beginning in 2017, and will account for more than two-thirds of the US$4.6 billion consumer drone market in 2025.
"For the study period, the overwhelming majority of consumer UAVs shipped will be toy/hobbyist UAVs, followed by prosumer UAVs, while kits and custom UAVs will remain a small market," said Phil Solis, research director at ABI Research. "Overall, growth in the consumer drone sector will remain strong, spurred by the creation of new use cases and the adoption of the technological advancements generated by well-funded market leaders such as DJI, 3DR, Parrot, and Yuneec, among others."
Additionally, the report finds that as the complexity of technology in the toy/hobbyist segment continues to increase, consumer UAVs with at least one camera can expect higher shipments than those without any cameras from 2019 onward. These cameras will not be limited to taking pictures and video, but will also be utilized for machine-vision applications, such as motion tracking, obstacle avoidance and other advanced functionalities.
"It will be interesting to watch what happens as consumer UAV technology continues to evolve," concluded Solis. "The future challenge will lie in finding ways to keep the products interesting. By transforming consumer UAVs into flying smartphone-like platforms, product vendors will be able to add innovative technological functionality into the devices with an eye on more open application development to enable innovative use cases. This will enable products to hold consumers' interest longer, increase product value, and expand product lifespan."
