Photographs shared with DroneDJ by an irrepressible leaker of DJI development products suggest the global drone leader is currently readying to market a Mini 4 Pro atop the multiple UAVs it has already rolled out in 2023 – an image of which we can offer as a preview with this post.
Over the course of this year, leaker Igor Bogdanov has established himself as the main source of rumored devices in the DJI pipeline – products the company would have presumably rather kept under wraps until it decided to unveil them itself. Now, after having fully undressed the Air 3 in the months before its July 25 introduction, the man behind @Quadro_News is uploading images of what he says is a developmental Mini 4 Pro drone – including a photo he has allowed DroneDJ to publish first.
Read: DJI unveils its long awaited, prodigiously rumored new Air 3 drone
As visible in the top shot (and reproduced below uncropped), the image Bogdanov shares features a smartphone screen plugged into a remote controller, and displaying the July 14 date and DJI Mini 4 drone it’s connected to.
The photo serves as supporting evidence to the full drone shot Bogdanov tweeted Saturday, when he alerted readers to the existence of what appears to be a somewhat froggy-looking developmental version of a Mini Pro 4.
Bogdanov answered DroneDJ’s questions about authenticity and origin of the shots with assurances they come from one of the reliable sources that have provided him input for the abundant leaks he’s uploaded of late.
Less clear, however, is why DJI would be working on a Mini 4 Pro a little over a year after the release of its Mini 3 Pro – and as its drone line becomes increasingly crowded.
This year alone, the company has introduced at least five new craft – the Air 3, Matrice 350 RTK, Inspire 3, Mavic 3 Pro, and Mini 2 SE – after a fairly busy 2022.
The Mini 2 SE, meanwhile, is another example of the company expanding its strategy of “step-down” products, whose less powerful onboard tech make them more affordable than the full-scale existing drones they’re based on. Launch of “Pro” iterations moves in the opposite performance and pricing direction, and further populates its bustling product line.
Given the plethora of popular – and new – drones already on the market, why would DJI risk overlap by bringing out a Mini 4 Pro? Anyone who could say for certain would be already working for the company and not telling – and probably quite wealthy by now.
Bogdanov believes companies coming out with new devices to improve and diversify their tech offer becomes an obligation for leaders of various sub-sectors. Each additional release demonstrates their innovation and production resources, and stokes consumer appetite for more goodies. That cadence also allows higher-end products in each category to be ambitiously priced in exchange for get-the-best-first exclusivity.
Another theory is that given the increasingly hostile business environment DJI faces in the US and even Australia – as data safety and/or protectionism blacklisting efforts grow – the company may be seeking to bring as many drones like a Mini 4 Pro to market as soon as possible before the situation worsens still.
Allowing consumers, businesses, and public agencies to start using (and relying on) those craft (the reasoning goes) could feasibly generate considerable popular opposition and support against eventual passage of bills – including one already introduced to Congress – seeking de facto bans on the craft by prohibiting their communication tech accessing ubiquitous, US-wide Federal Communications Commission assets.
Read more: New US bill seeks far broader ban on DJI drone use
Or, it could just be the firm is as proficient in developing and producing cutting-edge drones as Bogdanov has been in leaking information on them beforehand, which could explain both forms of frenzied activity by the simple, inexorable logic of “because I can.”
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