The rise of drones: sales up sevenfold in two years
Remote-controlled drones have reached the mass market. In 2016, we sold almost seven times as many drones as in 2014. More and more women and young people are buying them.
Swiss skies are buzzing like never before: according to the Federal Office of Civil Aviation FOCA, Swiss households now own several tens of thousands of drones. And that number is growing every day.
In 2016, we sold almost seven times as many drones as in 2014: compared with 2014, sales more than tripled in 2015. If we compare 2016 with 2015, sales have again almost doubled. Growing demand goes hand in hand with an increasingly varied offering: digitec and Galaxus have also expanded their range from 50 drones at the start of 2014 to more than 250 now. "The speed at which the drone market has developed in Switzerland is impressive," says Hendrik Blijdenstein, head of purchasing at digitec and Galaxus.
Summer - drone season
Drone sales follow a seasonal pattern: they sell particularly well in the dry, hot summer months and before Christmas. So far, the month in which the most drones have been purchased in Switzerland was August last year. "If the delivery of the Mavic Pro from manufacturer Dji had not been delayed, December 2016 would have been our new record month," says Blijdenstein.
There are also seasonal differences in sales by price segment: at Christmas, toy drones priced up to 300 francs are particularly popular. In summer, it's higher-quality drones, priced between 800 and 2,000 francs, that are most in demand. "I suspect this trend will become even more pronounced this year," says Blijdenstein. In summer and autumn 2016, Swiss online shoppers already bought more quality drones than toy drones.
The fact that manufacturers make far more turnover in Switzerland with high-end drones than with toy drones is also striking: models priced between CHF 800 and CHF 2,000 now account for almost two-thirds of annual turnover.
More and more women and young people
Since 2012, the age of drone buyers has fallen: now more than half are under 40. Blijdenstein believes that "this could be due to lower prices, as well as improved video functionality and usability". The proportion of buyers aged between 50 and 59 has fallen and, by contrast, the 20-29 age group has risen sharply.
Drones remain a male domain, however: at present, eight out of ten buyers are men. But women are on the right track: in two years, their share has risen by three per cent.
Always more compact, always easier to use
Drones are in the news in Switzerland this year too: Blijdenstein assumes that sales will increase significantly again - provided the weather is favourable. "The proportion of women and young drone users should also continue to grow in parallel."
Currently, drones are tending to become more compact and simple to use, as many Swiss people want to be able to put them in their rucksacks to use as flying cameras on trips and outings. Added to this is the fact that well over a fifth of the drones in the digitec and Galaxus range are now equipped with the Follow Me function. "This function will once again greatly expand the ways in which drones can be used," says Blijdenstein. "I'm working on the assumption that in 2019, for example, there will be almost as many drones on and next to ski slopes as there were helmet-mounted cameras in 2015."
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