- DJI appeals its ban in the United States
- Company says it could lose $1.5 billion this year
- 25 product launches are planned in 2026
Late last year, new DJI products were effectively banned in the United States, meaning devices like the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 are impossible to find in the United States. In a recently released court filing, we now have an idea of the cost to DJI – and its US-based fans.
DJI is appealing the ban in US courts (via DroneDJ), and in its official filings, the Chinese tech giant claims its exclusion from the US will cost it around $1.5 billion over the course of this year – around $700 million for regulatory payments for devices that were never launched, and another $860 million for new products in 2026.
These new products number 25 in total, according to the filing (see page 7), and will include both drones and other types of gadgets (like vlogging cameras). This represents “immediate and serious harm” to DJI, the document states.
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And it’s not just DJI that’s missing out: DJI says that businesses, energy companies, and emergency services that rely on DJI kit are going to be negatively affected, because they’ll be stuck on older hardware. This is a violation of constitutional and federal law, DJI claims in its appeal.
National security interests
The ban came as DJI was placed on the “covered list” by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States – a list of entities considered to be a threat to national security (Huawei is also on the list, for example).
Neither the FCC nor the U.S. government has explained exactly what threat DJI poses to citizen safety, but once the deadline for a DJI security audit passed, that was it. There are believed to be concerns over a Chinese company’s access to US networks and such a wide range of photo and video capture devices.
Regardless of political or security concerns, given that DJI consistently tops our list of the best drones on the market, it’s a shame that US customers can no longer get these devices. The U.S. appeals court must now decide whether the challenge can move forward, which would give DJI more leeway to make its case.
On DJI’s side, it is clear that substantial losses are already occurring – and the decision should therefore be challenged as soon as possible. In the meantime, we’re expecting another drone from DJI any day now.
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