How Phantom 4 Pilots Should Respond to DJI's Production Halt

[Earnest Ward]

It's worth noting that DJI has only announced discontinuation of the original Phantom 4 Pro - which makes perfect sense following the rollout of the P4P v2. The P4P v2 and P4A are merely listed as "Out of Stock" - which may be a prelude to formal discontinuation, rollout of the long rumored P5, OR a corporate decision to temporarily focus the company's finite manufacturing resources on the recently introduced P4P RTK. (And, I suspect, that the latter will guarantee availability of batteries for quite some time to come.)

I'm sure that we'll all be impressed as hell by whatever DJI introduces next - whenever that happens. (I know I certainly expect to be.) In the meantime I'll focus on meeting my clients' imaging needs with my ol' P4A and MP.

Fly safe, keep it legal, and have fun!

 

[Earnest Ward]

...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!!!

Just confirmed, new batteries are still available through the DJI online store.

 

[LUIS MARTINEZ]

...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!!!

Have a 2015 vintage P3P, still going strong and still paying its way. When it's gone, ce la vie!

 

[zander lane]

Whats going to happen to those of us that purchased the insurance. How will they replace damaged P4's?

...I stated to the DJI store manager that my care refresh result will now be a [Language removed] refurb and he agreed that that would probably be the case...very frustrating!

 

[drone Pilot]

My Analysis,

Like the cellular phone industry, I believe the move to smaller and portable UAV's are the future, thus end of phantom 4 series. The mavic 2 can provide compatible service. Improved Inspire will replace entire phantom aircraft.

 

[BigAl07]

Have a 2015 vintage P3P, still going strong and still paying its way. When it's gone, ce la vie!

I'm glad I'm not the only one LOL!

We went and shot (7) Commercial gigs today with a Phantom3P and a Mavic Platinum. I've got "better" aircraft but as noted these are still earning their keep and very well. I'd love to sit down and calculate how many times each one has paid for itself.

None of these clients stipulated what "tools" I use for the finished product just that I provide a quality product, in a timely manner, and for a fair price. I'll get up tomorrow and go do the other 5 jobs with the same aircraft . . . .