GoPro laying off up to 300 employees, mostly from Karma drone division - report
Action camera maker GoPro continues to struggle to take to the skies, as the company is reportedly laying off between 200 and 300 employees this week, reflecting the performance of its aerial camera drone, the Karma.
Employees were told that the cuts were "to better align our resources with business requirements," according to TechCrunch. Affected employees are relieved of duties effective immediately, but will remain on payroll until Feb. 16.
Most of those let go are said to be from company's Karma division, responsible for the drone that launched in late 2016 but was quickly pulled from the market due to an issue that could cause it to crash. The device eventually returned to the market in February of 2017.
GoPro's primary business is its Hero cameras, which were updated last September to the Hero 6 Black, a $499 wearable that captures 4K video at 60 frames per second. It also offers a new 360-degree Fusion camera that captures the entire world around it.
GoPro's cameras boast tight integration with Apple's iOS platform, using artificial intelligence to automatically edit together clips, negating the need for a user to be familiar with iMovie or Final Cut Pro, or even access their Mac in the first place.
But as smartphone cameras -- including Apple's iPhone -- have improved, and as cheap action camera alternatives have emerged, GoPro has seen is share of struggles. Prior to this week, its most recent round of layoffs came in March or 2017, when it cut 270 personnel. Prior to that, it let go of 200 other employees in November of 2016.
The company's stock is down considerably from a high of nearly $87 in October of 2014. Over the last year, shares went as high as $11.69 in September, but as of Friday are currently trading around $7.60.
Employees were told that the cuts were "to better align our resources with business requirements," according to TechCrunch. Affected employees are relieved of duties effective immediately, but will remain on payroll until Feb. 16.
Most of those let go are said to be from company's Karma division, responsible for the drone that launched in late 2016 but was quickly pulled from the market due to an issue that could cause it to crash. The device eventually returned to the market in February of 2017.
GoPro's primary business is its Hero cameras, which were updated last September to the Hero 6 Black, a $499 wearable that captures 4K video at 60 frames per second. It also offers a new 360-degree Fusion camera that captures the entire world around it.
GoPro's cameras boast tight integration with Apple's iOS platform, using artificial intelligence to automatically edit together clips, negating the need for a user to be familiar with iMovie or Final Cut Pro, or even access their Mac in the first place.
But as smartphone cameras -- including Apple's iPhone -- have improved, and as cheap action camera alternatives have emerged, GoPro has seen is share of struggles. Prior to this week, its most recent round of layoffs came in March or 2017, when it cut 270 personnel. Prior to that, it let go of 200 other employees in November of 2016.
The company's stock is down considerably from a high of nearly $87 in October of 2014. Over the last year, shares went as high as $11.69 in September, but as of Friday are currently trading around $7.60.
Comments
if I wanted to spend that much on a Drone, DJI has the better product IMO.
and their action cameras are pretty speedy too.
They had a good run for a while but seems to be slowing down a good bit.
Ouch. Yeah, I'd say a 90% drop in share price in three years is "considerably down."
I love Apple and don't object to their pointing out how many jobs they've "created," but it's not a zero-sum game.
so why are the laying people off, it is just a fad just like when Battier powered RC cars came out. lots of people went out and bought them and today, it just the hard core hobbyist who buy them. Also didn't you see all the videos of people who got one for xmass and kill it within hours of getting it. Do you really think people will replace them. Drones are not a must have item. It has limits mass appeal.
http://www.businessinsider.com/airbus-is-building-a-flying-driverless-taxi-to-test-in-2017-2016-8
https://www.wired.com/2016/10/uber-flying-cars-elevate-plan/
https://nypost.com/2017/03/23/this-city-is-one-step-closer-to-having-flying-taxis/
https://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/volocopter-air-taxi-test-flight-dubai.html
DJI kicks their butt in every way.
Drones are here to stay. When even the FAA is making huge concessions to integrate them into the US Airspace, you know that they have a big future ahead of them.
(Remember CES 2010? HP Slate? Dell Streak? Notion Ink Adam? Hearst Skiff?)
The hardware is always, always, always the easiest part. The tip of the iceberg.
The software is much harder. Then the infrastructure is harder still.
That's why Apple rolled out iTunes before iPod, iCloud before iPhone / iPad / Apple TV etc. (as iTools, .Mac, MobileMe, then iCloud).
The also knew competitors would bang out hardware with no infrastructure support, loaded with hastily hacked-together software.
It will take massive self-flying car legal and technical infrastructures to allow the masses to ride in "flying cars".
Sure, DJI could sell personal quad-copters right now. But they'd be no more convenient than your average Cessna
flying out of your nearest regional airport.