Core data of this article: Global market size related to industrial drones; Global industrial drone regional development pattern; Global competition among industrial drone companies
1. The Development History of Global Industrial Drones
Drones were mainly used in the military field in the early days, and have been used for target drones, reconnaissance, intelligence detection, and missile strikes. Since the 1980s, the United States, Japan, and China have been exploring the application of drones in civilian fields. From 2008 to 2014, benefiting from the development of information technology, mission payloads, satellite navigation and other technologies, unmanned aerial vehicles have been increasingly widely used in military and industrial fields. Since 2014, with the maturity of the drone industry chain and the rapid development of flight control and navigation technology, drones have the conditions of miniaturization, intelligence, and low cost. Consumer grade drones have developed rapidly, while industrial drones have also developed rapidly in fields such as inspection, security monitoring, agricultural and forestry plant protection, surveying and geographic information.
2. Global market size of industrial drone related industries
According to Frost&Sullivan's statistical data, the development speed of industrial grade drones worldwide will exceed that of military, consumer grade, and other drones, becoming an important industry to stimulate economic development in various countries. In 2015, the global market size of industrial drones was 5.363 billion yuan, accounting for 25% of the global civilian drone market size. With the maturity of the drone industry chain and flight control and navigation technology, the industrial grade drone industry has developed rapidly. In addition, the rapid industrialization of industrial grade unmanned aerial vehicle products such as vertical takeoff and landing fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles has also promoted the growth of the global industrial grade unmanned aerial vehicle industry. The proportion of industrial unmanned aerial vehicles in civilian unmanned aerial vehicles is gradually expanding. In 2021, the global industrial unmanned aerial vehicle market reached 95.622 billion yuan, accounting for 59.56% of the global civilian unmanned aerial vehicle market. According to the 2022 annual report of China UAV, the global market size of the civilian UAV industry in 2022 is approximately 30.4 billion US dollars, an increase of 15.6% over the previous year. At present, the global industrial drone market accounts for 60% of the civilian drone market, and it is estimated that the global industrial drone market will reach 122.684 billion yuan by 2022. Based on the growth rate and prospects of the industrial unmanned aerial vehicle market, it is estimated that the global market size of industrial unmanned aerial vehicles may reach nearly 200 billion yuan in 2023. In the next few years, the global civilian drone market will continue to grow rapidly, with industrial drones becoming a hot topic in the development of civilian drones, and the market size will grow rapidly.
3. Global Development Pattern of Major Industrial Drone Regions
At present, the United States, East Asia (China, Japan, South Korea), and Western Europe (Germany, Britain, France, Italy) are the three main manufacturing markets for industrial grade drones. Among them, the United States, China, France, Germany, and Israel have world leading R&D and innovation capabilities. The United States is the largest market and most active investor in industrial drones, with a complete industrial drone industry chain. In Western Europe, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have gathered more than half of the world's "hidden champions" enterprises, extending their manufacturing advantages to the field of drones, such as the evolution of piston engine technology into gasoline or heavy oil aviation engines, and the common development of flying cars and drones. The development momentum of industrial grade drones in countries such as Japan, South Korea, and China in East Asia is strong. Southeast Asia is one of the regions with the youngest population structure and the most dynamic economy in the world today, with Indonesia being an archipelago country with over 14000 islands. The advantage of drones in this region with low water and land transportation efficiency is highlighted.
4. Layout of Major Global Industrial Drone Enterprises (Analysis of Enterprise Nature)
Looking at the entire drone industry, the listed companies in the drone industry are mainly military drone manufacturers, while the civilian drone industry that has started in recent years has not yet entered a period of intensive listing. At present, there are few industrial grade unmanned aerial vehicle public companies, mostly listed on over-the-counter markets (such as UASDrone), or the unmanned aerial vehicle business has not yet become a major source of income, with overall low listing value and no profitability achieved. The layout of major industrial grade drone companies worldwide is shown in the following figure:
5. Layout of Major Global Industrial Drone Enterprises (Analysis at the Segmented Track Level)
Drone Industry Insights evaluated nearly 850 organizations whose core business is providing drone services to third parties. According to DII's assessment, the top drone companies for surveying and testing services in 2022 include Aerodyne Group, Terra drone company Cyberhawk、 Nordic drone company, Field Group. The best drone delivery companies are ranked as follows: Zipline, Wing, Matternet, Manna ero, Flytrex.
