It looks like GoPro might actually be experiencing something of a turnaround in their fortune. They’ve just released the Third Quarter 2017 financial report. After a pretty disastrous couple of years, their most recent quarter turned a profit, its first quarter to do so since Q3 2015.
In an attempt to turn the company around, they’ve been laying off employees, several times, recalling products, had a terrible relaunch for the aforementioned recalled product, and released the Hero 6. But, it’s worked, in the most recent quarter, they generated $329.81m in revenue with a profit of $14.66m.
But they’re not out of the woods yet. There’s still the Christmas season to go. The Hero 5 didn’t sell as well as many expect, even though GoPro claim it was the best selling digital camera in the US throughout the entire 12-month period. The Hero 6 isn’t being as well received as GoPro may like, either.
GoPro’s new Fusion 5.2K 360° camera will begin shipping this month, although it’s not cheap. At almost twice the price of the 5.7K YI 360 VR (review here), which is also due to ship some time in the next few weeks, it might face a struggle. Although the Fusion does have the advantage of being somewhat waterproof for those action sports junkies.
It also appears that 2017 will be the end of the line for the GoPro Hero Session, according to a Verge report. That its current iteration was much higher than anticipated. GoPro CEO Nick Woodman is reported to have said that this “will result in a sooner than expected end of life for this product”. But he remains optimistic – as he always seems to do. Woodman went on to suggest that there will be a new entry-level product in 2018, with a new form factor, that will be one of “several new products planned” for GoPro.
It’s been a tough couple of years for GoPro. But they seem to be finding a footing. Let’s just hope they can keep it up.
You can read the full report on the GoPro website.
[via The Verge]
New entry level product with new form factor, so you can’t use any of the previous accessories. I think I will switch to the cheaper Chinese knockoffs.