Latest devices can follow users as they walk, circle subjects

Wei Yilong, a 27-year-old amateur photographer, who set up a video studio, is taking his hobby to new heights and appreciates the compactness of foldable drone for aerial photography.

"The drone can fold up neatly and be carried in a bag, along with my laptop, batteries, smartphone and charger. It is really very easy to carry anywhere compared to the drones I used before."

The drone used by Wei was manufactured by DJI Innovation Technology Co and he has used it in San Francisco.

The "pocketable" unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone, is no longer a flight of fancy and the concept has taken off from the drawing board and into the skies. Drone manufacturers are stepping up efforts in foldable and intelligent products and this will see the consumer drone market take flight, analysts said.

In the past, quadcopters as they are often called, seemed to be almost exclusively for photography enthusiasts, but with the launch of easy-to-carry and compact drones, ordinary consumers are now able to buy an inexpensive drone for shooting images and their own entertainment.

Seeing tremendous potential in the backpack-sized small drone market, DJI Innovation Technology Co, China's largest commercial drone manufacturer, unveiled a foldable drone, the Mavic Pro, in September.

It is DJI's first drone designed to be taken just about anywhere, weighing just 743 grams, about half of the weight of the company's Phantom 4. Its folding design compresses the entire drone to the size of a water bottle.

Founded in 2006, the Shenzhen-based DJI currently accounts for 70 percent of the global consumer drone market, according to the company.

Other foreign and domestic drone manufactures are competing fiercely in the burgeoning market and investing more in the compact and foldable drones.

Just about one week before DJI's launch of the Mavic Pro, US action camera manufacturer GoPro Inc released the Karma drone, which also features a compact design and could fit in a small backpack.

Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd also launched, in October, a 425-gram drone that enables users to upload photos and live streaming videos to WeChat, its instant messaging app, to share with family and friends. It also features WeChat's video-calling function.