Skydio exits consumer drone market

Skydio, the US drone maker considered by many to be the only real competition to China’s DJI, has announced it will no longer manufacture recreational or hobby drones. Skydio cofounder and CEO Adam Bry says the company has taken the “very difficult decision” to exit the consumer business “in order to put everything we’ve got into serving our enterprise and public sector customers.”

Skydio’s consumer drones have enjoyed a great run for four years thanks to their impressive autonomy and AI features. But an even greater “transformative impact” has been witnessed by the company’s enterprise and government users, Bry explains.

According to Bry, over 1,500 enterprise and public sector customers rely on Skydio to put sensors in dangerous and important places to perform inspections, find missing children, and protect troops around the world.

“Our drones are making the core industries that our civilization runs on — public safety,…