GoPro gave rise to action sports in a way that cannot be understated. Without the company's original and subsequent action cameras, we wouldn't have seen the Renaissance that is action sports today, where everyone and anyone can head out into their yard, throw a sick trick, and instantly reach millions.
Yet, in the intervening years, GoPro has faced increased competition. Insta360 and DJI have entered the space with better tech, smaller cameras, easier-to-use backend apps, and cheaper offerings. They began beating GoPro at its own game. And at the same time, GoPro has had a few missteps and struggles.
That's all made GoPro's market incredibly difficult to navigate, something that's evident given its recent statement it'll be laying off not the 15% of staff it originally floated earlier this year, but rather by 26%. That's a massive cut of the brand's staff, all of which happens during the holidays, making it obviously worse for those affected.
These cuts come, as mentioned above, as the action camera maker is facing increased pressure from competing companies. Whereas it was once the only name in town, DJI and Insta360 have taken up residence and, unlike other upstarts in the space, actually delivered reliable and competitive cameras. And priced right, they're solid choices for action sports athletes and home consumers alike. GoPro's market share, then, just isn't what it used to be.
As such, the brand's stock price has fallen precipitously in recent years as sales declined, inventory stockpiled, and the GoPro name lost a little bit of its luster as, well, others could do it just as good. I mean, remember GoPro's camera launch videos? They used to be the gold standard and rack up hundreds of millions of views. That's just not the case anymore.
At the start of the year, GoPro announced measures to keep the company going and in good standing throughout the foreseeable future. But there are other forces at play, something that I still can't believe these large companies don't take into account for, as in the US's Presidential election and current worldwide economic turmoil. You see it with both large and small purchases. Just look at Polaris, KTM, Can-Am, and others, all of which also go into whether or not you're buying an action camera.
Likewise, GoPro's had a hard time upgrading the company's cameras in meaningful ways. At the start, innovation was easy and large. But as time went on, those changes were incremental to the point where consumers asked themselves, "Do we need another new GoPro when it's so close to the last one?" It's the same problem Apple faces with each successive iPhone.
As for what happens next, that I'm not sure about. Declining sales, mass layoffs, and reduced revenues paint a bleak picture for the iconic action camera brand. I don't think it'll ever go away, but I sense that something big is likely to occur in the near future. Whether that's acquisition or something else, that's yet to be determined.
