The US "sanctions on Chinese" are limited to US federal agencies not being allowed to use Chinese drones.
China now confidently banning Skydio entirely and also blocking them from getting batteries probably means that China has concluded that it is impossible for the US to make batteries on their own. People will bring up the recent lithium discoveries in the US but has completely forgotten the amount propaganda that has been pushed against "open pit mining" targeting both the left and the right (Joe Rogan, RFK jr.)
https://dronelife.com/2024/09/10/house-passes-countering-ccp...
Can't say that I feel bad for them. Skydio builds inferior drones and sells them at exorbitant prices. Instead of innovating, they opt to lobby and ban the competition (DJI and Autel).
This is not atypical–however, the more you dig into the topic, the more shady they get. Worthwhile watch:
First I was surprised because I was under the impression that Skydio was nowhere near DJI in terms of functionality and quality, but then I see it's about Taiwan..
I feel like China is watching intently the ru-ua situation, and depending how it pans out with international support, Taiwan may find itself in hot water.
I find the author's letter a bit tone deaf. It acknowledges that China is sanctioning Skydio for military reasons, but ignores that the US is doing the same.
This is great. Now everyone will get serious decoupling battery supply chain from China. Maybe companies making EVs will understand the stake.
We urgently need more tariffs on goods made in China. The most important feature of tariffs is not the revenue but incentives they create. We need near total “friendshoring” by 2027
From a national security perspective, and with the recent Israeli exploding pager development, I think a move away from Chinese batteries, forced or not, is a good thing.
> Chinese companies who are now rapidly losing market share to Skydio and our Western peers
Please, show us the detailed metrics on this claim.
Sanction for sanction, simple as that. Western countries like to sanction the shit out of China, but they don't like it when then they do it?
These threads are always depressing. Half the commenters here would cheer the collapse of the US.
> In order to continue delivering X10s and supporting our customers, we have to take the drastic step of rationing batteries to one per drone. ... We are extending the software license, warranty, and support term for all drones fulfilled with less than a full complement of batteries by the length of time it takes us to deliver all batteries in the kit.
Proactively offering their customers support due to the inconvenience, solid customer service move there.