Hey pilots. recently DJI halted production on the Phantom 4 series. DJI has its "reasons" but this is a blow to the drone industry because the Phantom 4 Pro is widely regarded as the best all-around drone on the market. The industry is leaning too much toward to hobbyists with a steady stream of foldable drones while leaving out more serious commercial pilots (we are their customers too!). I believe the community needs to come together to show our dismay with DJI. I think the best action to do is by contacting DJI (DJI – Contact Us) with our thoughts. If enough people reach out to them, it could give them a reason to change course.
How Phantom 4 Pilots Should Respond to DJI's Production Halt
- Thread starter CaptainPhilip
- Start date
Good luck with that.
DJI make great drones but aren't very responsive to users.
Whatever it is they are up to is pretty odd
They'll release something new when they decide to.
Florida Drone Supply
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The official line is that the Mavic 2 is the replacement for the Phantom line. We have no inside information at all, but it sure seems like there should be something else between the Mavic and the Matrice 210 series.
DJI is like any business and is responsive to the market. And if the market responds unfavorably (which it is), there is a great chance that they will reconsider. With a large segment of the market using for Phantom 4 Pros, I would say it would be worth looking into.
They are the largest sUAS maker in the world and to think that they are doing something that would hurt their market share is a mistake. Whatever it is they are doing you can be it isn't going to go against what they've done to date that has made them SO MUCH MONEY!!
Responding unfavorably? Go check out the Mavic forum and look how many Phantom pilots are now Mavic2 pilots now. I don't think you're going to be very happy. The Mavic line has been a VERY good seller and the new M2 series is still carrying that same torch.
They are the largest sUAS maker in the world and to think that they are doing something that would hurt their market share is a mistake. Whatever it is they are doing you can be it isn't going to go against what they've done to date that has made them SO MUCH MONEY!!
That's one forum. A lot of forums are echoing what I am saying. I do survey grade mapping and you're getting laughed at if you bring a Mavic. It was the Phantom series that made DJI the largest drone manufacturer and made them SO MUCH MONEY.
Yes the Phantom series did make them SO MUCH MONEY but they evolved and are now making MORE and MORE $$. The Mavic is the fastest selling sUAS on the market period. I'm not against Phantoms (I own 3 of them) but I'm also not blinded to think that discontinuing the Phantom4 line is going to be the end of DJI. I hope they come up with a Mavic that has Professional grade camera and components in the near future.
I do a ton of sUAS work and my clients never ask me what aircraft I'm flying. They just want to see the DATA and make sure it meets their specifications. I do have a Show & tell sUAS and it's not a Phantom.
(disclaimer: I do not own a Phantom4 series but I have owned and do own many Phantoms prior ro 4)
We'll just have to agree to disagree and go forward.
Official ??
I'd be interested to see something to back that up.
I've been following the saga closely as as far as I can tell, DJI has said nothing at all officially (or otherwise).
All that's known is that they stopped manufacturing the P4 pro back at the end of October.
Initially they suggested it was due to a component supply problem.
That cover story doesn't hold up 5 months later.
Everything else that gets suggested is misinformation or guessing.
DJI might release a new Phantom in the future or they might not.
No-one has any idea.
MapMaker53
Well-Known Member
DJI is a Chinese company with a different set of values and a totally different business culture. They do not particularly care what Phantom 4 owners opinions happen to be. If your Phantom 4 gets destroyed, they are confident you will buy their newest model replacement.
DJI's never emptied the shop before launching a new model but even if they chose such an odd marketing move, they wouldn't leave the shelves bare for five months.
Ending production of the P4 series is completely unrelated to the possible future release of a P5.
PhantomFandom
Active Member
Unless I missed it, there was never any sort of official announcement that DJI has discontinued the Phantom 4 Series. True that they have discontinued the Phantom 4 and Phantom 4 Pro. True that the Phantom 4 Advanced and Phantom 4 Pro v2 have been out of stock for months. However, that should not be taken to mean that the Phantom 4 line is dead, or even more broadly the implication that the Phantom line in general is dead.
I love my Phantom 4 Pro crafts. They are my workhorses. However, I can't assume that they will be produced forever. Technology moves forward. That is inevitable. I loved my very first Phantom 3 Pro, but I never expected DJI to produce those forever either. Instead they progressed and built the even better Phantom 4 Pro.
DJI has done very very well in continually producing new products which consumers want and enjoy. I don't believe they will abandon the Phantom market. I don't know what is in store, but I fully expect it to be a step forward, and not a step back. It could be a Phantom 5, which is even better than the Phantom 4 Pro. It could be a Mavic 3 that somehow crams all of the Phantom 4 Pro technology (and camera quality) into the Mavic airframe. It could be that elusive Phantom with high quality camera and interchangeable lenses. We just don't know. What I am fairly confident in, is that DJI will continue to have a product line that fills the gap between the Mavic and the Inspire.
I love my Phantom 4 Pro crafts. They are my workhorses. However, I can't assume that they will be produced forever. Technology moves forward. That is inevitable. I loved my very first Phantom 3 Pro, but I never expected DJI to produce those forever either. Instead they progressed and built the even better Phantom 4 Pro.
DJI has done very very well in continually producing new products which consumers want and enjoy. I don't believe they will abandon the Phantom market. I don't know what is in store, but I fully expect it to be a step forward, and not a step back. It could be a Phantom 5, which is even better than the Phantom 4 Pro. It could be a Mavic 3 that somehow crams all of the Phantom 4 Pro technology (and camera quality) into the Mavic airframe. It could be that elusive Phantom with high quality camera and interchangeable lenses. We just don't know. What I am fairly confident in, is that DJI will continue to have a product line that fills the gap between the Mavic and the Inspire.
Would be cool if DJI released a Phantom 5 version that was just a up scaled Mavic... with new camera and other added options...
zander lane
Member
...for what it's worth (...and with DJI, probably not much!) but I was in the southern california DJI store in costa mesa a week ago and the manager told me point blank DJI had discontinued the phantom line...as the news sunk in I tried to quickly figure out what that meant for my phantoms' future; so I quickly snatched up some more batteries (...elsewhere, as the DJI store had already sold out and were not expecting any more) as I now believe access to new batteries will be what ends my time with my phantoms in the next year or two as all my batteries will eventually give up their ghosts after 150-200 charges...bummer, I've LOVED the phantom line for many years!!!
zander lane
Member
...on that note: check any new batteries born-on-date; the camera shop I found some at had some that were over a year old - I quickly brought them back in and exchanged for the newest ones they had (from september 2018) - good luck phantomeers!!!
As Al said, whatever gets the job done. I've never had a customer say a word about the UAS doing the job (most are never on-site anyway) all the customer wants is quality results. My aircraft are just tools; forum opinions are quite irrelevant to my purchasing decisions and am a lot happier because of it.
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