COMMERCE DEPARTMENT ADD DJI TO ITS ECONOMIC BLACKLIST

[Mr Mint]

I was thinking of purchasing a new DJI Mavic Air 2 for my first drone. I just passed my Canadian Drone exam so it is legal for me to fly this drone but now I am really wondering if it is a good idea and wait to see what happens with DJI. Will there by any warranty support and is it too risky at this time to make a purchase? Any comments

 

[anotherlab]

I was thinking of purchasing a new DJI Mavic Air 2 for my first drone. I just passed my Canadian Drone exam so it is legal for me to fly this drone but now I am really wondering if it is a good idea and wait to see what happens with DJI. Will there by any warranty support and is it too risky at this time to make a purchase? Any comments

Yes, there will be warranty support. Either this will all blow over or DJI will replace the embargoed components with Chinese developed equivalents.

 

[DDS]

I’m sorry but I can’t work out what you’re getting at here. Are you saying that DJI sold their products knowing that they would be used for human rights abuses?

 

[Crosswind_Final]

Are there US manufactured components in DJI's drones??

 

[wco81]

I was thinking of purchasing a new DJI Mavic Air 2 for my first drone. I just passed my Canadian Drone exam so it is legal for me to fly this drone but now I am really wondering if it is a good idea and wait to see what happens with DJI. Will there by any warranty support and is it too risky at this time to make a purchase? Any comments

Only affects US right?

Canada hasn't imposed a ban?

Next month, this new ban may be lifted for all we know.

 

[anotherlab]

Are there US manufactured components in DJI's drones??

Yes, I listed some of them in an earlier post in this thread.

 

[anotherlab]

Only affects US right?

Canada hasn't imposed a ban?

Next month, this new ban may be lifted for all we know.

The ban is a prohibition from being able to use embargoed American made components. It's not an import ban.

 

[DanMan32]

I’m sorry but I can’t work out what you’re getting at here. Are you saying that DJI sold their products knowing that they would be used for human rights abuses?

I can't say they did, but nobody can say they didn't. Many here are saying one can't blame a company for what others do with their products. I am explaining that how one can.

 

[maelstrom]

I can't say they did, but nobody can say they didn't.

Sorry, but you could apply that sort of thinking to any product from any manufacturer in any country (including the US). Using your logic, the US-based suppliers of components to DJI should also somehow be seen as complicit in the human rights abuses. It’s highly unlikely that a government is going to tell a non-military product supplier, in detail, what their products are going to be used for. That’s especially true if it’s something that would be seen as breaking international law.

 

[jeryslo]

One of the largest commercial/industry drone provider Auterion has an interesting post on the alternative. I do also personally agree that the future for commercial/industry applications is in the open source DroneCode foundation stack. Though not surprising something like that coming from Auterion given that they are heavily vested in the foundation.

 

[maelstrom]

One of the largest commercial/industry drone provider Auterion has an interesting post on the alternative.

Understandably, the linked article is heavily biased towards Auterion. It also contains some misleading information about what it means to be on the Entity List. For example, it says “it also means that any enterprise wanting to do business with DJI (even just using the DJI SDK) has to now review whether that activity is in compliance with U.S. regulations“. Using the SDK does not involve any export or transfer of specified US items or technology so shouldn’t be affected at all. This smacks of scare-mongering on behalf of Auterion. There’s also nothing in the information about the Entity List which mentions anything about not being able to buy or use products from manufacturers on the list. It doesn’t even prohibit export or transfer of items to companies on the list - it just specifies that a license has to be obtained before doing so.

 

[anotherlab]

One of the largest commercial/industry drone provider Auterion has an interesting post on the alternative. I do also personally agree that the future for commercial/industry applications is in the open source DroneCode foundation stack. Though not surprising something like that coming from Auterion given that they are heavily vested in the foundation.

As @maelstrom wrote in his post, this is a lot of FUD marketing from Auterion. This is a smart move on their part, you need to strike while the iron is hot. At this point, no one can compete with DJI at the consumer level, they have a price advantage that no one can compete with.

In the commercial market, it's a different story and I would like to see a competitive market. Having an open-source platform makes it easier for developers to do custom applications and use custom hardware. If someone wants to use centimeter-level accurate GPS with new or experimental hardware, having open tools makes it easier.

 

[jeryslo]

Totally agree, probably only Skydio with its autonomous functionality can at the moment compete with DJI in the consumer market. While commercial/industrial market will see more and more adoption for open source platforms. Maybe we are witnessing something similar that has played out in the 90s with Linux vs Windows OS for servers, where Linux was a clear winner in the end due to open source technology.

 

[dirkclod]

The only competition I see from skydo is from younger pilots.
Not going to speak for all us older fliers but I have no need to
have a drone that follows me. I don’t do things that would need
what it does and not doging it but it would be a awful dull drone
hovering watching me ?

 

[wco81]

Skydio seems to be more for the adventure sports people, who might want a drone filming them from overhead instead of just the helmet cams

IOW, try to get some of the GoPro market.

 

[jeryslo]

Agree, it does look like a drone made for fast following of the point of interest through terrain filed with obstacles. I guess they are trying to capture a niche that DJI has not been able to solve/capture at the moment. But it does give them quite a bit of advantage, as developing a Neural network for real time flight controller decision making is much harder thing to do than anything else DJI is currently doing. It will be interesting to see if this niche picks up interest outside outdoor sport activities, I saw that Skydio is actively marketing it for inspection of hard to get places without GPS availability, such as under the road/railway bridges.

 

[icecoldgin]

Oh where are you Skydio Mini when we needed you? ?

 

[B52-D]

Wonder now if it's the time to start selling my DJI gear before the big panic over this starts ?....

You may be the start of a panic if you sell all your DJi gear.

 

[Paladin45]

The only competition I see from skydo is from younger pilots.
Not going to speak for all us older fliers but I have no need to
have a drone that follows me. I don’t do things that would need
what it does and not doging it but it would be a awful dull drone
hovering watching me ?

I'm a geezer myself, but a newbie on drones. YouTube videos of hipsters following themselves around got boring pretty quickly. I put a deposit on a S2 due to its enterprise features, but now find those are a $1,500/year subscription. And that still would leave me with a drone that can't fly at night, so cost/benefit analysis becomes more important. Also, for a company headquartered in some of the most congested airspace in the country, I don't understand why Skydio chose not to follow DJI's lead in including ADS-B (every DJI > 250g has it). I'm tempted to cancel a pick up a Mavic or P4Pro2.

 

[DanMan32]

Currently only the MA2 has ADS-B IN, and then, only in US.

$1500/yr? That doesn't sound right.
For that kind of money, are they sending a new drone every year?