Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Integration of AI with drone-in-a-box (DiaB) technology: A drone that can fly, return from a location, and begin self-charging when it returns from a mission is part of the drone-in-a-box (DiaB) technology. Artificial intelligence (AI) adds several features such as automated and unified visual data collection. For instance, Percepto launched Percepto AIR Max and Percepto AIR Max OGI drones in 2021 and 2024 respectively. These drones are integrated with AI, which allows power grid inspection, detects intrusion, and can collaborate and act on insights. The inspection drones share has increased, augmented by the rising DiaB technology.
• Carrier in difficult terrains and last-mine delivery: The widespread adoption of UAVs among delivery services is expected to drive the UAV market expansion, as there is a growing demand for carriers in difficult terrains under emergencies. UAVs can be an affordable substitute for helicopters, as drones are claimed to be the last-mile delivery technology of the future for consumer goods as they will cut delivery times and costs per delivery. For instance, Nokia announced its contract with Citymesh- a Belgian telecom operator for supplying the Nokia Drone Network platform along with 70 DiaB units.
  
  Additionally, autonomous delivery or human-less services will gradually become advantageous as delivery workers' wages rise, particularly in developed nations. This technology would reduce the need for human intervention while increasing applications across a variety of industries including telecom, agriculture, space, and maritime. Moreover, a recent report by Research Nester in 2024 estimated that drones could cover about 50 miles under 30 minutes.

Challenges

• High production cost: UAVs operate on advanced technologies that require extensive research and development (R&D). It could take a company several years to create a functional prototype. Furthermore, the high cost of the raw materials needed to produce UAVs results in extra expense. UAV maintenance also requires a lot of resources, and while in the air, there's always a chance of losing contact with the drones. As a result, it is important to ensure that UAVs offer cost-efficiency, which may be challenging to attain.
• Risk of Intellectual Property (IP) theft: Unmanned aerial systems use unique systems like DaiB, these are advanced devices that have taken years of study and invention. However, there is a chance of intellectual property theft as UAVs are vulnerable to theft or being taken down by adversaries. Terrorist organizations might try to comprehend the accurate systems and technologies employed in the development process by reverse-engineering intercepted unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This could pose a threat to international UAV manufacturers.