GoPro Slashes 15% of Workforce, Shuts Down Entertainment Division (variety.com)

GoPro has announced that it will lay off more than 200 employees and freeze hiring, amounting to a reduction of about 15% of its workforce. As part of the restructuring, the company is also shutting down its entertainment division. In addition, the company said president Tony Bates will be leaving the company. From a report on Variety: Also Wednesday, GoPro also said Black Friday camera unit sales were up more than 35% year-over-year at leading U.S. retailers. GoPro said its Hero5 Black camera has been the best-selling digital-imaging device in the U.S. since it launched Oct. 2, citing NPD Group data. GoPro shares climbed more than 4% in premarket trading Wednesday on the news. The move appears to spell the end of the struggling company's ambitions to branch out beyond device sales into the entertainment biz, which had included plans to produce original shows. The GoPro entertainment unit has been led by Ocean MacAdams, who previously held programming posts at MTV, Warner Music Group, and the Madison Square Garden Co., after Zander Lurie left in January to become CEO of SurveyMonkey. The division at one point had about 200 staffers, including Bill McCullough, who produced award-winning sports documentaries for HBO, and Joe Lynch, who previously led Time Inc.'s live-streaming initiatives.

Comments

Possible solution

[WormholeFiend]

Sell GoPros to the low-blood-in-the-brain pot smokers from the previous article, who will make crazier videos and in turn promote the GoPro brand? /be a hero

Re: Possible solution

[Nunya666]

GoPro is an overly-priced digital video recorder. What made it become a successful product is that it includes a waterproof acrylic case that is designed to hold the camera, along with multiple gadgets that let you mount the case to just about anything. Using a GoPro, you can get 1st-person video of outdoor sports activities, without worrying about getting your camera wet.

The problem is the price. $400 (or more) for a sport camera is a bit pricey for many people, including me. Although some models are cheaper than that, most are too much $$$.

I have a GearPro that I bought for less than half the price of a GoPro, and mine works great. It is mounted to my bicycle helmet that I wear while commuting to work on my bike. The video quality is amazing.

Re: Possible solution

[Anonymous Coward]

This is what's wrong with millennials.

Re: Possible solution

[Bigbutt]

Hell yea. I do the same for my motorcycle trips to work and back and general running around. Some dill-hole pulling in front of you or running you down can do a he-said/she-said unless you have video proof.

[John]

Re: Possible solution

[AmiMoJo]

The price might have been sustainable if equally good or even better models from other manufacturers didn't cost a fraction as much. The reality is that such cameras are practically commodity items now. Billions of cheap phones with 1080p cameras have made the sensors and optics extremely cheap.

They remind me a lot of TomTom. When sat nav was relatively new TomTom units were expensive but worth it. Now even a basic unit is adequate, but not as good as the phone you already own, and indeed the TomTom app is pretty cheap. Yet there they are, still selling dedicated sat nav units for ridiculous money, because some people are loyal to the brand.

Re: Possible solution

[ColdWetDog]

The point here is that commodity products, even with significant functional downsides will beat more expensive specialty products most of the time.

Yes, TomToms have a better GPS chip and antenna. But the smart phone works pretty well. Yes, GoPros can survive reentry from orbit but if you're just skateboarding you don't need that sort of build quality.

GoPro lost it's niche and then was unable to push the technology (4K, 5K video, decent battery). Wild expansion into everybody else's niche probably sounded great in the Board Room. In engineering, not so much. Remember, also, that GoPro relied on commodity electronics for it's core. The video and support chips were off the shelf Chinese. Available to anyone else with some cash (or credit or VC funding).

Nothing to see here, move along.

And rightly so

[GameboyRMH]

GoPro equipment is madly expensive. You can buy a knockoff such as an SJCAM with similar capabilities for a small fraction of the price. If you buy GoPro, you're paying out the ass for the name.

I got one as a gift, back when "action cameras" were a new thing and I was still rigging up conventional digital cameras, and it failed for no apparent reason a couple years ago (my best guess is maybe heat from the sun killed it, although it didn't have any telltale LCD rainbowing). I already had a lot of gen1 GoPro accessories so I bought one used to replace it, but next time I have to replace or upgrade I'm going to go with a knockoff.

Re:And rightly so

[GameboyRMH]

The knockoffs always lag behind in features, if you want those bleeding-edge features you'll have to shell out the big bucks. Modern action cams are all ridiculously overpowered for non-professional use anyway IMO. I still record my videos in 720p.

The SJCAM 5000X Elite is the closest to the Hero5 Black - SJCAM's cameras seem to be pretty reliable, some friends have had good luck with them, and that's what I'll probably go to next (they use the same mounts as a GoPro so I won't have to change those). If it breaks, I can buy at least 2 replacements before I get close to the cost of a single top-of-the-line GoPro.

Re:And rightly so

[Grishnakh]

The problem here is: how many people really care about having those high-end specs, and are willing to pay $$$$ for them? Sure, if you're a professional skier or whatever, you'll want the Rolls-Royce of action cameras, but if you're just a weekend warrior who wants to record his bike ride, a knockoff for a fraction of the price is going to be all you really want or need. It sounds like this company massively overestimated their potential customer base and expanded too much, and are now finding out that high-end equipment with high-end prices can't be sold to average consumers. There's a reason you don't see Rolls-Royce and Ferrari dealerships at every motor mile.

Re:And rightly so

[drinkypoo]

Well GoPro does sell a $199 model. Perhaps they need a $99 model as well?

You got it in one. In the little square form factor, with 1080p60 as the maximum recording quality, and with video passthru for FPV. One camera to rule all other cheap cameras. They'd outsell hotcakes ten to one.

Re:And rightly so

[fbobraga]

Soon it will be so that if you have a 720P movie, nobody will watch it

very high resolutions on tiny screens: utter nonsense! Fucking millennials!

Good

[MeNeXT]

Now if they just change the terms of service that the license that the user grants to GoPro is just for their site and that any content uploaded by the user will not be used anywhere else without the express written permission from the user, would give them a perpetual low cost advertising medium.

Most people producing video have the occasional lucky shot that attracts attention but the people who take the time to edit and tell a story are not likely to post it on a site where the terms of service allows them to monetize the video any way and anywhere they choose.

Almost....

[Cytotoxic]

GoPro said its Hero5 Black camera has been the best-selling digital-imaging device in the U.S. since it launched Oct. 2,

Well, except for the iPhone.

And the Samsung Galaxy line...

And probably the Pixel.

But if we exclude multi-function imaging devices....

Re:Almost....

[dunkelfalke]

Phones are not imaging devices and their cameras suck donkey balls.

Yeah, GoPro

[GeekWithAKnife]

Got one as a present. Videos look nice butc I learn that;

Getting quality footage is hard and gets in the way of the activity.

I'm not a cameraman and should never quit my day job to become one.

There's always some fucking annoying mount to get, fix, attach or remove.

Batties, storage and lens dirty are always an issue.

There's far better options online and most people would not care much to see yours because "awesome" stuff is like garbage these days.

There's a fuckton of shit to do with the money a GoPro is sold for these days.

I am not a hero and neither is 99.999% of people.

Re:Yeah, GoPro

[TheSync]

Hah, I love the GoPro video from my dog's back!

Re:Yeah, GoPro

[neilo_1701D]

The drone is good and a good variation on their action camera line. The issue that it is is that the new DJI is so much better.

Well, that and the Karma had a nasty habit of loosing power and falling out of the sky.

From an optics point of view, the newer DJI's don;t have anything like the lens distortion a GoPro has. Assuming that the Karma was a near perfect beast, the DJI competitor, the Mavic, has the latest in DJI optics and the image is great.

Plus there is the cost: the Mavic is about the same price as the Karma was - but with the Karma you still needed to buy a GoPro if you didn't already have one. The Mavic has the camera included.

Will anyone record the meeting?

[gachunt]

I wonder if anyone will record/stream the meeting where they are getting fired.