Parrot (PARRO on the Euronext Paris exchange), a French company famous for its audio and wireless devices for phones and cars, unveiled their first AR.Drone at CES in 2010 to huge crowds (I was there). The updated AR.Drone 2 was previewed at CES 2012 and is now available for sale. The big difference is the addition of a HD wide angle video camera.

AR.Drone sales now represent over 10% of Parrot’s overall revenue. This novel quadcopter, which can be flown from an iPad, iPhone or other smart phone, is opening new retail markets for Parrot products. More than 300,000 AR.Drones have been sold thus far.

Their aftermarket sales and support – including tutorials – is a valuable and smart business add-on to expand sales and keep users happy.

Parrot recently purchased two companies to complement their AR.Drone project and perhaps enter the UAS market with more serious products: senseFly and Pix4D.