Action sports camera maker, GoPro, has announced it will no longer be manufacturing drones, following significant job cuts, and reports the company is considering selling.
Enclosed within an investors’ report, GoPro revealed that its ‘Karma’ drone would be its last, admitting the challenges of making a profit in the “extremely competitve” market are difficult.
Congruent to the announcement, GoPro is reportedly making nearly 300 staff redundant. It is also reducing the pay of its CEO, Nicholas Woodman, to US$1.00 as it attempts to rebalance its financials.
The recent job cuts will bring GoPro’s staff count to “fewer than 1,000″.
CBNC states that GoPro has hired JP Morgan Chase to sniff out a potential sale. CEO Mr Woodman informed the media earlier this week:
“If there are opportunities for us to unite with a bigger parent company to scale GoPro even bigger, that is something that we would look at”
GoPro’s Karma drone first debuted in 2016, only to be recalled in November that year after a fault caused the aircraft to lose power. The company reportedly lost US$373 million that year.
GoPro affirms that the “aerial market” is “untenable” and that the company will leave the market “after selling its remaining Karma inventory”. It claims it will continue to provide service and support to users of the Karma.
As part of its latest earnings report, the company has revealed that 2017 fourth quarter revenue would be around US$340 million, thereby significantly lower that its original holiday season forecast of US$470 million.
The figure is reportedly the company’s worst holiday season since listing in 2014.
CEO, Nicholas Woodman, affirms that GoPro is “committed to turning our business around in 2018″.
