ABOUT DRONE ECONOMICS BOOK-FOREWORD OF THE BOOK

Bijan and I have been working on this and other books relating to drones for over seven years now. We have talked with hundreds of interesting people and enjoyed every minute of the process. It is amazing what authors can learn when they sit down, do field research, and write a book. This is the first in a series of books on drone topics. This book covers fundamental economic topics ranging from the nature of disruption and pricing to market structure and ultimately how this information can be used to create value. Drones are interesting in that they are disrupting existing industries and creating new markets. The drone itself is simply a delivery mechanism used to gather data, in the form of pixels and other medium used by sensors, and in logistics. Drones are disruptive in that they lower costs, open new markets, and make other products obsolete. It is in the pixels and other areas (autonomous operations, machine learning) where the most money will be made. The fundamental economic issues discussed in this book are simple and straight forward. More important than concepts like supply and demand is the issue of market structure. Market structure determines how prices are set (by the market or within the industry). The most important market structure discussed in this book is monopolistic competition. As there are few, if any barriers to entry, for drone manufacturers or others within the supply chain, the number of competitors will become large over time. The increasing number of competitors will drive prices down and make it hard for investors to make much money. The areas where the most money will be made are those where a company has a monopoly on one essential aspect. As there are no long-term barriers to entry, others will soon copy the latest innovation and compete the advantage away. This short-term advantage describes monopolistic competition. The reality of monopolistic competition is constant innovation. Companies that do not constantly innovate will not last long. Harsh but true. In future books, we will take up more advanced economic topics such as design problems, power sources, and weather-related issues; research relating to the supply chain; imaging and other important topics. Advanced Drone Economics is forthcoming summer 2021. This book is not for the mathematically faint hearted.

Please check our Youtube channel for Darryl Jenkins’ videos about the book. Please see following video about Drone Economics Book Foreword.