Five years ago, GoPro shares were worth $17 today they are wallowing at $9.74 a fall of over 43% with one former GoPro specialist retailers packing up shop due to a lack of interest in the action camera brand who is building out their direct sell operation at the expense of mass retailers.
This week the US Company rolled out a new HERO 10 Black which will retail for $599.95 with an included one-year GoPro subscription or $749.95 without a subscription.
During a visit to Byron Bay this year I bumped into a person who previously operate a retail store selling GoPro cameras to surfers and action adventurers, he told me he had been forced to close the business down due to a lack of interest and because the target audience he had was buying direct from GoPro.
“The gear was too expensive and mass retail stores were discounting the product out. Years ago, GoPro products were in demand and a lot of people who already owned a GoPro didn’t want to invest in a new model because the images they were getting from their current model was suffice for what they wanted. GoPro was also pitching my customers to buy direct”.
Recently the business posted second-quarter net income of $17.0 million, or 10 cents a share, versus a loss of $51.0 million, or 34 cents a share, in the year-prior quarter.
GoPro’s revenue climbed to $250 million from $134 million a year ago, while analysts had been projecting $232 million.
Globally and in Australia GoPro is trying to drive more people to their own site Vs retail partners such as specialist action dealers or the likes of JB Hi Fi.
With the launch of the new HERO 10 GoPro is offering incentives for a subscription sign up as this model allows them to collect data on a consumer who they then direct sell for future models.
Analysts see their direct-to-consumer strategy as a smart move as it cuts out having to pay retailers a percentage to sell GoPro cameras.
The company has told analysts that they are working to expand its footprint in emerging markets and is focused on scaling up its customer relationship management efforts. In an effort to sell direct.
Revenue from GoPro’s own site rose 48% to $88 million and made up 35% of total sales.
Back in 2017 GoPro had revenues of A$1.63 Billion with the Company now struggling to hit the billion-dollar mark.
Last month, the tech giant secured a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for systems and methods in a bid to ascertain flight risk for unmanned aerial vehicles.
This new patent brings their U.S. patent portfolio to more than 1,600.
In the past adventurers attached a GoPro to a drone, today drone makers such as DJI are building advanced cameras into their drones that also interface directly with DJI software and apps.
“One major retailer who is stocking the brand said “We stock GoPro but there is no demand like there use to be for GoPro camera or GoPro accessories that in the past walked out of stores”.
