The global drone logistics market size was more than US$8 Bn in 2021 and is projected to grow at a robust pace during the forecast period. The report would uncover how the growth of this market will unfold over the upcoming years.
Market Analysis in Brief
The growth of the drone logistics sector has been spurred by increased demand for time-efficient delivery services, as well as the pacing adoption of drones in last mile delivery. Drone adoption in production and manufacturing is still in its early stages. Furthermore, a restructured government regulatory environment is likely to provide economic prospects during the forecast period. However, experts are excited as ample opportunity appears in airborne photography, monitoring, and safety inspection areas. Furthermore, to counter the mounting risks of terrorism, the government is investing more in military drones. Drone research and development, and drone purchases currently account for a substantial proportion of the international defence budget. The demand for military drones will thus experience a hike in the upcoming years. However, the potential cybersecurity risks, and limited flight durations continue to be the key limiting factors for the drone logistics market.
Key Report Findings
Growth Drivers
Upsurge in Demand for Faster Delivery
The global market for eCommerce and logistics has expanded recently. The expansion of the eCommerce and logistics sectors fuels the demand for convenient delivery options for shipping vital commodities worldwide. This will predominantly drive the expansion of the global drone logistics market.
Drone delivery systems have been introduced by the two largest eCommerce and logistics companies, Amazon, and DHL, to perform speedy deliveries and ship products to locations unreachable to traditional transportation methods. For instance, DHL Express, and EHang formed a strategic alliance in May 2019 to introduce an intelligent and completely automated innovative drone delivery solution in China's urban areas. The smart drone delivery system in China will provide an energy-saving, practical, and economical autonomous delivery service. This will increase drone logistics demand.
Aggressive Uptake in Last Mile Delivery
Drones are perfect for last-mile delivery because of their small size, swift speed, low operating costs, and minimal impact on the environment. As a result, eCommerce behemoths like Amazon and Walmart are attempting to use drone delivery to reach out to rural and distant places. Several logistics stakeholders is investigating drone technology in an effort to lower operating expenses, solve traffic jams, reduce vehicular emissions, and sate consumer demand for on-demand and instant delivery.
Furthermore, drones are being used all over the world to deliver groceries, food, vaccines, medical supplies, and other products due to the great potential of last mile drone deliveries. Drone last mile delivery use cases are expanding daily all around the world, in turn elevating the prospects of drone logistics market.
COVID-19 Impact
Drone service providers especially developed and used drone services like lab sample pickup and delivery, transportation of medical supplies to cut down on travel time and infection exposure, aerial spraying of public areas to disinfect potentially contaminated areas, and monitoring and assurance of public spaces. These applications also raised demand for various drone types to record ground activity from the air. Additionally, following the pandemic, several logistics firms chose to focus on strengthening their networks for drone-based last mile deliveries, which has influenced the growth of the drone logistics market to a large extent.
Growth Challenges
Lack of Skilled and Trained Personnel for Operation
The security of the entire drones, which consists of UAVs, ground control stations, and communication equipment, must be ensured by personnel operating drones. Drones may fly at a variety of altitudes and need trained operators to be remotely controlled and operated. There are few pilots available for high-precision operations. The deployment of drones in the commercial drone delivery, and transportation sectors is increasing, which contributes to the rising demand for qualified drone pilots. This however remains a longstanding challenge facing the drone logistics market.
To avoid collisions while in operation, drones must be outfitted with technology that provides them with an autonomous sense, and avoidance capabilities. Currently, attempts are being made to increase the autonomy of these systems, thereby lowering the involvement of human operators, to decrease the frequency of mishaps brought on by the weak control abilities of drone operators.
Overview of Key Segments
Software to Dominate as Advancements Pick Pace
The drone logistics market has been divided into three segments based on solution: hardware, software, and services. During the forecast period, the software segment is expected to increase at the fastest compound annual growth rate. This expansion can be linked to rising technological improvements in commercial and military drones, which are boosting the demand for advancements in software technology.
Commercial Category Spearheads
The commercial segment of the global drone logistics market is expected to rise at a high CAGR during the projected period due to increasing demand for unmanned aerial vehicles in logistics and transportation. Most of this segment's contribution will depend on drone delivery services, notably in the eCommerce business.
Drones are increasingly being employed on the battlefield for a variety of purposes, including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), combat operations, and battle damage control. Militaries are also investigating the use of drones for logistics purposes, such as supplying soldiers with food, ammunition, gasoline, and spare parts. Military logistics is accompanied with a potential risk defence organisations are attempting to reduce the amount of employees required for logistics by implementing autonomous drones.
According to Navy statistics, 90% of ships and aircraft pulled out of mission-capable status when deployed require simple components like electronics or wiring assemblies, 90% of which weigh less than 50 pounds and may be delivered by drones rather than manned aircraft. The US Navy demonstrated in August 2021 that small drones may replace manned platforms in delivering essential spare parts and food supplies between ships at sea.
Growth Opportunities Across Regions
Exploding Growth of eCommerce Hoists North America’s Market
Due to the use of drones for package delivery by corporations such as Amazon, DHL, and UPS, North America leads the global drone logistics market. The civic and commercial segments of the drone logistics market are expected to grow throughout the forecast period. The quantity of logistics deliveries, particularly in the eCommerce industry, is constantly increasing in North America, boosting the region's drone logistics and transportation business.
The growing use of drones for commercial and military applications is strengthening the North American logistics and transportation business. Drones are employed in commercial and military applications such as tracking, food delivery, medical supply delivery, border surveillance, and parcel delivery, which is boosting the region's drone logistics and transportation landscape.
Adoption Rises in Asia Pacific as Cross-border Unrest Prevails
The Asia Pacific drone logistics market is predicted to grow rapidly and at the fastest CAGR over the forecast period. The rise in political tensions in several Asia Pacific countries has led to the deployment of UAVS to secure border security, which has contributed to the growth of the market in this area. This is one of the most important reasons driving the Asia Pacific drone logistics and transportation industry.
China is developing novel technology to produce low-cost drones. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Company (CASC, China) began mass manufacturing of the CH-5 UAV in 2017, after it successfully completed its first flight test in August 2015.
Global Drone Logistics Market: Key Industry Players
Drone Delivery Canada, DroneScan, FedEx Corporation, Flytrex Inc., Hardis Group, Infinium Robotics, Matternet, Inc., PINC Solutions, Amazon.com, Inc., United Parcel Service of America, Inc., Wing Aviation LLC, Workhorse Group Incorporated, Zipline International Inc., and Wingcopter GmbH are a few of the notable participants in the worldwide drone logistics market space.
Notable Developments
Regional Classification of the Global Drone Logistics Market is Described Below:
North America
Europe
Asia Pacific
Latin America
Middle East and Africa
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