Key Insight 

A commercial industry has boomed, and hundreds of thousands of drones are being used for media, land surveying, building and infrastructure inspections, and personal entertainment. 

What You Need To Know

Drones were used extensively during the coronavirus outbreak of 2020: to monitor residents and encourage them to stay indoors, to inspect traffic stops and hospitals, and to spray cities with disinfectants. A video clip went viral on a Chinese social media site, showing a drone breaking up a mahjong game—residents defied local ordinances to stay indoors. The government was reportedly using drones outfitted with infrared cameras to fly overhead and check for people who might have fevers. 

China offers a glimpse into how drones will be used more in the near-future. Autonomous drones–capable of working independently and together as part of a larger fleet–are finding wider commercial use in natural disasters, for package deliveries, for smart city management, within warehouses, and on automated farms. 

Why It Matters

As drone demand increases around the world, it’s likely that consolidation will follow. Flight service providers, hardware startups, drone and aircraft manufacturers, asset and flight path management software, and data processing platforms will see a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the near future, which could make it difficult for new startups to compete.

The Impact

Widespread future use of commercial drones will likely depend on standardizing regulations. If companies are forced to comply with patchwork regulations in different locations, it would make compliance burdensome. 

Watchlist

Aerodyne Group, Airbus, AirDog, Bell Helicopter, Boeing, Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences, Cora, Corgan, Cyberhawk, DJI, Dubai Road and Transport Authority, EHang, Embraer, Federal Aviation Administration, fiber optic cable providers, Hemav, Hover, Intel, Joby, Karem Aircraft, Lilium, Lockheed Martin Corp, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, municipalities and state legislatures, NASA, NASA Unmanned Aircraft System, oil and gas pipelines, Opener, Operation Zenith, Pipistrel Aircraft, security providers, shipping and port operators, Swellpro, Terra Drone, Toyota, Traffic Management, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Military, U.S. Navy, Volocopter, Walkera, Wisk, Yuneec International, Yuneec, Zipline.

More Trends in this Section

• Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
• Drone Air Lanes
• Follow Me Autonomously
• Drone Swarms
• Medical Supply Drone Delivery
• Drone Operation Centers
• Drones-as-a-Service
• Personal Home Drone Surveillance
• Flying Beyond Visual Line of Sight
• Real-Time Mapping
• Drones for Dangerous and Hard-To-Reach Areas
• Clandestine, Disappearing Drones
• Flying Taxis