China hits Skydio and US firms with sanctions… property frozen in China

China has imposed sanctions on Skydio and other US companies, freezing any property they own in China. The sanctions come as a significant blow to these firms, especially Skydio, which now faces major challenges in sourcing key components for their drones.

Looks like the drone wars are starting

Yup, the Drone Wars have begun!

The Wars have begun, and drones are the key players.

World War 3 is on the way… time to stock up on drones and toilet paper!

This won’t help the case for not banning DJI in the US. It could become a tit-for-tat issue.

Yeah, definitely a dumb move.

It’s not just because of DJI being banned. Skydio sold military drones to Taiwan, and now they’re seen as an arms dealer working for a hostile government. The other firms sanctioned were arms suppliers too.

Nobody in China was using Skydio anyway.

Exactly! Why use a more expensive imported drone when you’ve got DJI locally?

Most of the parts Skydio uses are made in China. Now that they’re sanctioned, they’ll have to rebuild their supply chain without Chinese suppliers. Skydio is in big trouble.

It’s probably more about the principle of it.

And nobody in the US is using them either.

Except first responders who need drones but can’t use DJI because of restrictions. Skydio is one of the only options left.

Never heard of them until now. Are they even good?

Half the features for four times the price.

From what I’ve read, they don’t compare well to DJI at all.

Skydio won’t be able to buy parts from China directly anymore, but they can still get them through third-party countries if the Chinese government doesn’t enforce the sanctions strictly.

Does anyone actually use Skydio drones?

Skydio tried to win by lobbying against their competition instead of making a better product. Now it’s backfiring.