GoPro the Company behind one of the most successful products sold by CE retailers last year is set to file an IPO the move comes as several Companies get set to enter the action camera market.
The US Company said that they plan to conduct a registered initial public offering of its common stock. The offering is expected to commence after the US SEC completes the review process initiated by GoPro’s confidential submission on Friday February 7, 2014 of its draft registration statement.
During the past few months the US Company has been spruiking their capability with media organisations ahead of the IPO. At CES Contour a US action camera maker who run out of funds mid last year and filed for Chapter 11 said that they are set to launch a new range of wireless enabled action cameras that will compete head on with Go Pro after the Company was recapitalised.
Now Go Pro is trying to set themselves up as a media Company based on the premise that they have an abundance of content shot on their action cameras.
The Company claims that since the invention of the camera they have built a large and passionate following on YouTube and other internet sites with their action packed footage,
“I think GoPro is producing some of the best short-form content out there today,” said Nicholas Woodman, the company’s founder and chief executive.
Recently GoPro began to venture beyond YouTube, with the Company now looking for new distribution channels for its content.
In October, Virgin who this week pulled out of Australia introduced a GoPro channel on its in-flight entertainment system featuring a 2 1/2-hour string of GoPro videos that are refreshed every two months.
In its latest deal, the company reached an agreement with Microsoft for a GoPro channel that will be available to users of Microsoft’s Xbox game consoles.
The New York Times said that some of the most popular videos on GoPro’s distribution channels are shot by independent users of the cameras. One of the biggest hits, with nearly 20 million views, is a tear-jerking two-minute clip of a firefighter in California, discovering an unconscious kitten in a burned-out home and then reviving it with an oxygen mask and splashes of water. GoPro received permission from the firefighter before professionally editing the video and putting it on its channel.
According to Terry Smart the CEO of JB Hi Fi the Go Pro product range that is merchandised in store using action video has been one of their most successful products. The camera sells for upwards of $300.
