Keeping the inside track on the latest drone rumors and news means monitoring inventory levels at DJI’s key retail partners.
Sometimes these retail partners are the first to let us know that a product refresh is coming, or that one is being discontinued by DJI. Even when it hasn’t yet been made official.
While some drone enthusiasts are speculating that a Mavic 3 is not coming because DJI is now focused on smaller aircraft like the Air 2s, we know otherwise.
“2021 seems to be the year that Autel has finally hit it’s stride.”
DJI has significant market share at risk from rival Autel Robotics, who is releasing 3 additional drones in the coming weeks. Right now DJI is in catch-up mode with it’s flagship Mavic 2 Series of drones. Autel leapfrogged the Mavic 2 Series in January of 2020 with the release of the EVO III Series. The stellar EVO drone, available in 3 flavors with interchangeable gimbals, has put DJI developers on their heels.
The EVO II Series is now the high bar for DJI to jump over.
Mavic 2 Aging Gracefully
Were it not for the EVO II Series we would be happy to keep using the Mavic 2’s 1″ sensor and brilliant Smart Controller (our preferred bundle). The problem with the Mavic 2 is that it just celebrated it’s 3rd birthday…and is now full over 1,100 days since it was released. This number is important because DJI’s typical product replacement timeline is usually around 300-390 days.
While it’s very likely that the pandemic and subsequent chip shortage could have impacted DJI’s Mavic 2 refresh cycle, these factors don’t explain how DJI was still able to get the Mini 2, Air 2S, Pocket 2 and OM5 out the door. After all, the company employs over 400 engineers who are toiling away at new product ideas.
At 3 years old and counting the bottom line is that the Mavic 2 Series is running out of time. If you want proof, just try to buy one.
At DJI’s own online store we reported months ago that the Mavic 2 Zoom was completely out of stock unless you bought it bundled with a Smart Controller. The less popular of the two models, the Zoom was the first to drop out of inventory. Today you can’t even buy the Zoom with the Smart Controller at the DJI Store. And the standard Mavic 2 Pro bundle, with the regular RC, is no longer in stock either.
But what about DJI’s retail partners. Online photo/video retailers like B&H Photo and Adorama are key retail partners in the US for DJI.
Checking the B&H Photo website, below, you can clearly see the Mavic 2 Pro is now DISCONTINUED.
And that’s what we’ve been looking for…that one word ‘discontinued’. Because it tells us exactly what’s going on behind the scenes, even if DJI has issued a press release hinting at it. The Mavic 2 is done, long live the Mavic 3.
Head over to Adorama’s website and the news is even more profound: the Mavic 2 Pro isn’t even listed in the Adorama online store anymore!
While there are still a few Mavic 2 Zooms hanging around in custom Adorama bundles, the writing is all over the wall.
If you head over to Amazon, the story is the same. There you’ll see there is only a couple of Mavic 2’s in stock. And if you want one with the Smart Controller it’s listed as “Currently unavailable. We don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock.”
Time To Stock Up On Mavic 2 Accessories
If you’re a current Mavic 2 owner, no doubt you’ve enjoyed this drone. 31 minutes of flight time, all-direction obstacle avoidance and aweseome OcuSync 2.0 connectivity. But DJI won’t support the Mavic 2 forever. At some point they will give it “End of Life” (EOL) status just as they did the Spark, Mavic Pro and others.
In the meantime, you should do a quick inventory of what Mavic 2 Series accessories such as batteries, that you may need to pick up in the future. Now might be an ideal time to stock up before that inventory dries up as well.
In addition to batteries, give some thought to actively sleuthing for discounts on the following accessories:
- shoulder bags
- batteries
- Smart Controller
- batteries
- propellers
- ND filters
Not if, When
There is no doubt in our mind that the Mavic 3 is coming and that the Mavic 2 is on it’s final days. The only detail that remains is when. With Autel putting out a new product “full-court-press” against DJI in the coming weeks we know DJI has to answer back. In the past DJI has even been cheeky enough to do it before a competitorcould get their product launched.
We don’t expect that with the Mavic 3, especially since DJI has lost prominent employees over the last year and the rumor mill says many others have been poached by Autel.
These staff developments are just one item of concern for DJI-watchers. Over the last year it appears as if DJI has retreated somehow. In May of this year DJI announced a temporary halt to their extremely successful affiliate program that has now alienated thousands of supporters. As of the date of this article, the DJI Affiliate program is still halted…almost 4 months later.
And checking the exhibitor roster for CES2022 in Las Vegas, DJI has gone from having the largest footprint in the drone hall to not even being registered.
All of this just makes us wonder, “What gives, DJI?”.
2021 seems to be the year that Autel has finally hit it’s stride, finally emerging from DJI’s shadow. We’re excited for Autel’s trajectory, after all competition is the seed of innovation.
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