Like the rest of the world, GoPro certainly has endured a mixed 2016. Despite lacking the ongoing sales growth that the company has been hoping for, there was plenty of hype surrounding the company’s partnership with RedBull that was announced back in May of this year. A couple of months later, GoPro then released its latest Hero 5 and Hero 5 Session cameras, and the hotly anticipated Karma Drone. Since then however, the news hasn’t been so good.
The bad news started when trading in GoPro shares was halted after shares fell 20% in value. The combination of slowing sales, increased competition, and a poorly reviewed Karma drone resulted in a significant drop in expected revenue, with an estimated $250 million being wiped off the company’s value in early November. Rubbing further salt into the wounds, GoPro then announced that the Karma drone was being recalled due to a power issue during flight. Not ideal for a heavy airborne object with four spinning choppy blades attached to it.
But the news has gotten worse…
Yesterday, GoPro announced that it would be slashing up to 15% of its workforce. This translates to about 200 existing employees, as well as positions that were due to be filled in the near future. The move follows an earlier layoff back in January, where GoPro already waved goodbye to around 100 employees. And yesterday’s announcement came with two other bits of news; GoPro’s Company President will be stepping aside at the end of this year, and the company’s ‘Entertainment’ division is getting the axe.
Despite having over 4.3 million subscribers on YouTube and the ability to leverage an enormous amount of user-generated content, it would appear that GoPro’s media aspirations appear to have fizzled out following the closure of its entertainment division. GoPro states that the move has come about in a bid to reduce operational costs as part of a broader restructure. After the company’s poor performance on the share market, it would appear it’s making good on its promise to return back to profitability.
