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I agree, but disagree there was a hard ceiling for GoPro. Companies may have an initial success.. but the rest of the world never stands still while they rake

I agree, but disagree there was a hard ceiling for GoPro. Companies may have an initial success.. but the rest of the world never stands still while they rake in money. Especially not in tech, which gets cheaper every year and can be manufactured fairly easy by competitors. GoPro had an initial success with their camera.. and it was their duty to expand beyond that into other lines of business and diversify their revenue streams. When I hear GoPro, I think cameras (like everyone else).. and that was their failure. There's really nothing about the name "GoPro" that is attached to cameras--it only means that because of their marketing and failure to expand. I don't think there's a reason the name GoPro couldn't be put on a variety of high end outdoor gear--surfboards, snowboards, etc. GoPro could easily stand for pro-level/quality outdoor gear. What's surprising is that they watched other camera manufacturers fail and disappear, and yet didn't pursue other lines vigorously.

acjohnson55 9y ago
That sort of lateral expansion is also a hazard. Many companies have failed at becoming lifestyle brands. For one random example, Evernote tried to launch a marketplace of physical items. Some were really nice. But after a year, they had to shut it down.
oceanswave 9y ago
Not only that, they haven’t kept up in camera tech, but still charge a premium price. Built-in mechanical stabilization, additional sensors such as gps and altimeter, color capture could have justified a premium price. Expansion into the drone market came as too little too late, and the recall hurt that effort immensely. Seems like there are video applicstions outside the ‘action cam’ domain - security, monitoring, etc that players such as nest have gotten into, granted that’s outside their X-treme DNA. So yeah, a sale is probably best for them, but outside their brand, what kind of IP do they really have that boosts their value...
- atomical 9y ago
  GoPro Hero5 Black has GPS.
- rgbrenner 9y ago
  Yes, I agree. Another great avenue for them would have been activity trackers (like fitbit), cyclometers, and/or gps gear for hiking/marine/air (like garmin). They've really left a lot unexplored. Instead of more cameras, other gear, etc... they tried one version of a drone they had to recall for power issues, then almost immediately discontinued it. That's a pretty low-key effort for a multi-billion dollar 16 year old company
paulcole 9y ago
>GoPro could easily stand for pro-level/quality outdoor gear. The same could be said for pro-level/quality outdoor gear. Why aren’t Patagonia, Orvis, and Salomon making a run at the camera industry? Is that their failure?
- rgbrenner 9y ago
  Except those companies have multiple products. Salomon, for example, produces clothing, shoes, skis, goggles, and helmets. Salomon originally was a metalworking company that sold saw blades. And they turned that into sporting goods equipment. They also own Mavic -- bike parts. Patagonia originally sold rock climbing gear only.. and expanded into clothing. Those companies are diversified stable companies, that have expanded into other lines of business... reducing their risk. GoPro is like Salomon deciding to stick with saw blades. I don't think GoPro necessarily needs to add outdoor gear.. it was merely an example. GoPro has quite a few options open to it... virtually all unexplored by GoPro.
usrusr 9y ago
> I don't think there's a reason the name GoPro couldn't be put on a variety of high end outdoor gear--surfboards, snowboards, etc. GoPro is kept alive by the huge margins they can ask for on the basis of being the recognized inventor of the action cam market. The company knows absolutely nothing about operating on tighter margins. The markets for "surfboards, snowboards etc" are even more brand aware, but that cuts both ways: GoPro would be seen as the outside giant trying to buy their way in.
ghaff 9y ago
There was a hard ceiling for action cameras. People still buy them but, to some degree, they were a fad item. A lot of people realize that they don't actually base jump and after the fifth movie you've shot of an intermediate ski run it gets kind of boring. They could have designed better interfaces and the like but I'd argue there's still an upper limit. They did have a great brand though and could probably have expanded that beyond cameras to other outdoor-oriented electronics. Of course, there's a lot of competition but there is everywhere.

acjohnson55 9y ago

That sort of lateral expansion is also a hazard. Many companies have failed at becoming lifestyle brands. For one random example, Evernote tried to launch a marketplace of physical items. Some were really nice. But after a year, they had to shut it down.

oceanswave 9y ago

Not only that, they haven’t kept up in camera tech, but still charge a premium price. Built-in mechanical stabilization, additional sensors such as gps and altimeter, color capture could have justified a premium price. Expansion into the drone market came as too little too late, and the recall hurt that effort immensely. Seems like there are video applicstions outside the ‘action cam’ domain - security, monitoring, etc that players such as nest have gotten into, granted that’s outside their X-treme DNA. So yeah, a sale is probably best for them, but outside their brand, what kind of IP do they really have that boosts their value...

atomical 9y ago
GoPro Hero5 Black has GPS.
rgbrenner 9y ago
Yes, I agree. Another great avenue for them would have been activity trackers (like fitbit), cyclometers, and/or gps gear for hiking/marine/air (like garmin). They've really left a lot unexplored. Instead of more cameras, other gear, etc... they tried one version of a drone they had to recall for power issues, then almost immediately discontinued it. That's a pretty low-key effort for a multi-billion dollar 16 year old company

paulcole 9y ago

>GoPro could easily stand for pro-level/quality outdoor gear. The same could be said for pro-level/quality outdoor gear. Why aren’t Patagonia, Orvis, and Salomon making a run at the camera industry? Is that their failure?

rgbrenner 9y ago
Except those companies have multiple products. Salomon, for example, produces clothing, shoes, skis, goggles, and helmets. Salomon originally was a metalworking company that sold saw blades. And they turned that into sporting goods equipment. They also own Mavic -- bike parts. Patagonia originally sold rock climbing gear only.. and expanded into clothing. Those companies are diversified stable companies, that have expanded into other lines of business... reducing their risk. GoPro is like Salomon deciding to stick with saw blades. I don't think GoPro necessarily needs to add outdoor gear.. it was merely an example. GoPro has quite a few options open to it... virtually all unexplored by GoPro.

usrusr 9y ago

> I don't think there's a reason the name GoPro couldn't be put on a variety of high end outdoor gear--surfboards, snowboards, etc. GoPro is kept alive by the huge margins they can ask for on the basis of being the recognized inventor of the action cam market. The company knows absolutely nothing about operating on tighter margins. The markets for "surfboards, snowboards etc" are even more brand aware, but that cuts both ways: GoPro would be seen as the outside giant trying to buy their way in.

ghaff 9y ago

There was a hard ceiling for action cameras. People still buy them but, to some degree, they were a fad item. A lot of people realize that they don't actually base jump and after the fifth movie you've shot of an intermediate ski run it gets kind of boring. They could have designed better interfaces and the like but I'd argue there's still an upper limit. They did have a great brand though and could probably have expanded that beyond cameras to other outdoor-oriented electronics. Of course, there's a lot of competition but there is everywhere.