There’s been rumors claiming DJI’s ending its line of DJI Phantom drones. And it isn’t just an internet rumor. It was started by a high-up DJI employee.
DJI’s Director of Public Safety Integration Romeo Durscher said on a podcast last month: “Yes, the Phantom line with the exception of the Phantom 4 Pro RTK has come to an end.” Durscher was talking with the Drone Owners Network. It was spotted by DroneDJ.
What happened to the Phantom 4?
Every version of the latest Phantom has been out of stock for over a month now. Some retailers are even showing them as discontinued. If those aren’t big indicators, then we don’t know what would be. DJI is also reporting an unannounced Phantom 5 has been canceled.
Despite this, however, DJI denies it’s done with the Phantom line. “Romeo misspoke,” DJI communications director Adam Lisberg told The Verge. Apparently, the company has a shortage of parts and that’s what is keeping the drones off shelves.
“Due to a shortage of parts from a supplier, DJI is unable to manufacture more Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 drones until further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause and recommend our customers explore DJI’s Mavic series drones as an alternative solution to serve their needs,” reads an official statement from DJI.
However, this shortage has been going on for five months. If this is true, then that is a really bad shortage.
DJI on Phantom 5: “ … there’s nothing to cancel”
DJI also addressed the rumors they’ve canceled their rumored Phantom 5 by saying there wasn’t anything to cancel:
“As for the Phantom 5 rumors, we’ve never said we considered making a Phantom 5 in the first place, so there’s nothing to cancel,” adds Lisberg, who told DroneDJ last fall.
Is the Phantom line gone for good?
It’s really strange that DJI has had this shortage for five months. If the company is really passionate about continuing the drones, then you’d think they’d be working to fix the shortage as soon as possible — any maybe they are. While the future of the Phantom line may not look good, it would be a huge change for DJI to ditch is iconic drone to say the least.
Image courtesy DJI and DroneDJ
