Despite its success, no more than 50 D.Is were ever produced, having been rapidly eclipsed by the Albatros D.II, which was broadly identical in terms of its design save for the repositioning of the upper wing to be less of a hindrance to pilot visibility.

[1] German military officials came to recognise that advances were being made by the Allies, such as the Airco DH.2 and Nieuport 11 Bébé , which could best the Fokker Eindecker and thus threatened to gradually tip the balance of power back in their favour.

[2] The aircraft manufacturer Albatros Flugzeugwerke was amongst those companies approached to produce such a fighter; its design team on the project was headed by Robert Thelen, R. Schubert and Gnädig.

[2] Its construction was a considerable shift for the company, having discarded its established features of fabric coverings and a braced box-girder fusalage in favour of a semi-monocoque one that was composed of plywood, consisting of a single-layered outer shell supported by a minimal internal structure.

[2] The wing structure was composed of wood and comprised a rectangular twin-boxspar arrangement; the ribs featured lightening holes and were narrowly flanged with spruce.

The flight control surfaces of the tail unit were of a similar welded steel tubing with a fabric covering; both the one-piece elevator and rudder had small triangular balance sections.

The additional power of the Mercedes (Daimler) engine was such that it enabled the fitting of twin fixed Spandau machine-guns without incurring any meaningful loss in performance.