After more than three years devoted to negotiating a difficult turn on the wing, Parrot claims to have found a course which should allow it to return to equilibrium. The drone manufacturer, which had launched a brutal restructuring after almost disappearing in 2018, caught out by the collapse of the market for leisure devices and by the vigor of Chinese competition, experienced a 32% increase in its turnover. revenue (71.9 million euros) in 2022. Despite the upturn in sales, now exclusively refocused on professional applications, losses still represent 19.7 million euros, after reaching 34.9 million in 2021 .
Around Parrot’s alarm clock floats like an air of revenge. Excluded from the private market by commercial aggressiveness and the price war unleashed by the Chinese DJI, the world leader in the specialty, the French firm has been able to exploit the suspicion that the latter inspires in the American federal authorities and certain European administrations.
The drones of the Shenzhen firm, suspected of not guaranteeing the protection of sensitive data – which it has always defended – are now kept away from strategic sectors, starting with military activities. In an increasingly tense international context, Parrot has established itself as a replacement solution, in particular by forging a privileged partnership with the American army.
“Need for high-performance and highly secure equipment”
Parrot’s main commercial asset is called Anafi USA. Designed on the technical basis of the latest consumer model and manufactured in the United States, this civilian drone “is not a weapon, but a powerful flying camera”, insists Henri Seydoux, president and co-founder of the company. It has been adopted by several armies (United States, France, United Kingdom, Finland, Norway, Spain, Australia, Malaysia, etc.), by coastguard fleets (United States, Japan, Poland), but also by police (including the FBI) or firefighting services.
The photogrammetry activity (3D modelling) is well oriented
Riding on the “need for high-performance and highly secure equipment (…) What does the geopolitical situation bring to light? and on the fact that Parrot is one of the few non-Chinese manufacturers of small remotely piloted quadcopters, sales of microdrones have almost doubled in 2022 (39.2 million euros) and represent 55% of the turnover of the group, compared to 38% the previous year.
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