DJI IS EVOLVING THE WAY IT MAKES DRONES

[The Droning Company]

DJI is Evolving the Way it Makes Drones

 

[Ty Pilot]

I've read several threads where Mavic 3 owners feel slighted by DJI in the way the Mavic 3 has "evolved". But as a business owner myself who produces items with no guarantee of market reactions, I have a different take.

I want to state that I am in no way, a fan-boy of DJI. In fact; if another company could come up with a product that fits my needs better, I would happily go that direction, in fact; I hope to see it in the future.

That said: DJI is the industry leader at the moment in consumer drones, no doubt - they are plotting the very 'course' of consumer drones in the future. There is no 'road map' for their new products, they are largely taking leaps of faith, based upon past sales' history. (Anyone remember "New Coke")?

I know I will take heat for this but; the extra camera of the first M3 was a gimmick - it had high promise and many customers bought in. But as mentioned in your article - the proof was not in the pudding. So what did they do? I say the only logical course of action is what they did:

1] Salvage the M3 line by targeting what it was about the Mavic three that didn't disappoint (the main camera), and; release a streamlined (interim) version - the "Classic"

2] Refine the failed portion of the original Mavic 3. And to do this they simply went to 2 additional cameras, each having a dedicated, different focal length.

I think DJI made a slight miscalculation in the original Mavic 3 and the 'Classic' and 'Pro' versions are simply their answer to that. Unlike some who think; DJI (in all it's infinite wisdom ), planned this to screw customers, I see it as; DJI is learning the market still.

 

[Eagle Eye 62]

Except if you look at what they did to Avata owners who purchased the FPV goggles 2 only to find out they have to tether their phone to it because it won't support remote ID. Then DJI announces a "New" version that does 6 months later when they knew all along that remote ID was just around the corner. That really sucks in my opinion.

 

[PHZ]

You can identify “pioneers” by the arrows in their backs. However, I do not regret the Mini 3 Pro I purchased nearly after its release.
BTW, I decided to keep my M2 Pro until the M3 could support Litchi on my iOS. I still have it and still waiting for the M3 Pro to catch up.
You make some great points and that does not excuse or affirm DJI’s marketing practices. But still, there is no one who can beat them.

 

[3rdof5]

Just to chime in, being a loyal Phantom Pilot, I too have been watching DJI'S marketing strategy and how they discontinued the Phantom series in favor of the Mavics.
And I waited 5 years to join the Mavic club, with my first being a Classic. IMO all the Mavic releases since the beginning were too costly to justify the gains over my P3P.
And I particularly agree with you all on how DJI has handled the Mavic 3 releases.
The Mavic 3 aircraft itself (regardless of which of which camera it has) is definitely the best aircraft in the consumer market that they have created. But to start with a dual cam system seemed very odd when they could have offered the Classic and the (what they could have called a zoom edition) at the same time giving buyers a proper choice based on their needs, but nooo they started with the dual camera and nothing else. Then, much later, they release the Classic, which finally made me decide to upgrade as I'm not a pro photographer and just wanted a really sweet aircraft with a decent camera for not an outrageous price.
I never expected the Pro, as did no one else, but a short time later here it is. Doing that made the original Mavic 3 pretty much obsolete which has pissed off many customers. I personally have zero buyer remorse for not waiting for the Pro as the Classic is perfect for me, but I hear ya all on your annoyance on DJI'S release strategy with the Pro. I believe DJI would have pissed off A LOT LESS people if they had skipped the Pro and just introduced an all new Mavic 4.

 

[DARKSeifer]

I know I will take heat for this but; the extra camera of the first M3 was a gimmick - it had high promise and many customers bought in. But as mentioned in your article - the proof was not in the pudding. So what did they do? I say the only logical course of action is what they did:

The tele on the M3 is the best thing around for a consumer level drone, 7x optical/28x digital is just awesome during long range and exploration, and I'm constantly switching between cameras during flight.

The 21st century flying binoculars, how I like to joke. Just don't use it to take photos and expect that little sensor giving any quality compared to the main one, it's a utility camera.

The shame is that new camera being an optical 3x and not a 14x. I personally don't need a x3 on a little sensor, so I' won't change my M3. One day I'd like to pick the enterprise thermal though, but sadly it's too expensive.

Regulation wise, the new M3 is labeled as C2 instead of C1, so being limited to fly in A2-A3 in Europe it's a clear "no thanks" from my part.