Why drones are here to stay

Drones are not a fad. That is the conclusion TechCrunch contributor Philip McNamara came to last year, and he recently took the time to remind the world why that is the case. The result is a good primer on the state of the drone industry and the key areas of focus.

Drone companies have been doing quite well recently. DJI, of course, is still the largest consumer drone company in the world and continues to innovate with new products, notably by taking steps to insert itself into the commercial drone space. The company has played a big role in getting drone sales increase more than 1 million units annually. Now, however, it has many competitors. McNamara singles out Parrot, EHang and 3DR.

Like DJI, EHang is another China company that is helping shape the future of UAVs. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year, the maker showed off a drone that could carry a person. It is not the only one working on this technology, though. Volocopter built a two-seater drone, Zee Aero made a manned stealth drone and Terrafugia is working on a flying car. McNamara envisions a future with drones zipping people around town, but regulations will have to catch up to the technology before that happens. It is also not clear how this kind of flight traffic will stay orderly. Still, the technology exists to make this future a reality.

Startups are also seeing "rapid growth," according to McNamara. This means funding continues to pour in for these kinds of ventures, suggesting a bright future for drones. In 2015, venture capitalists invested $450 million in 74 drones, according to CB Insights New York. This VC funding was four times what it was the previous year. Drones are also getting launched on Kickstarter all the time and the quality is getting better.

Many of the consumer drone companies started over the last year came out of China. This includes Yuneec, which Intel invested in last year. A more recent innovative drone out of China is the Hover Camera, which generated a lot of buzz in the technology press.

McNamara likewise sees drones playing arole in big data collection. Many companies are involved in building UAVs for various kinds of information gathering. One kind that was seen recently was an insurance company using a drone to assess rooftops. This kind of use not only allows jobs to be completed faster, but it also improves safety.

Part of the brilliance of DJI, which is now estimated to have about 70 percent of the drone market, is that it seems to recognize the potential of the market early on. Drones are not just toys for people to play with in the park. They are incredible tools that are getting more useful with every new generation. China companies have been big beneficiaries of the growing drone market as they got into it early. There are now all kinds of aerial drones and photography drones coming out of the country.