by IgorPartola
0 subcomment
- The issue with GoPro was that they did not know what business they were actually in. They created a new camera hardware segment and became experts at it. Then they decided that they had to pivot to a media platform. That was a dumb move that destroyed shareholder value. They also failed to differentiate from smartphones and cheaper cameras by innovating and/or moving upmarket.
This is also a lesson in failed leadership. Woodman is a CEO who founded the company. He has a controlling share and has never had to answer to a real board in his tenure. The company lost 99% of its value from its peak under him. The brand might still have value but his legacy is basically a Greek tragedy.
- Curious parallel to iRobot (Roomba): first mover in new product segment, became genericized name for things in that segment, in the end, (possibly in GoPro's case) could not compete in that segment
- No sympathy from me. I have a GoPro Hero11 Black and it's easily the worst camera product I've ever used.
Damn thing overheats constantly. 4K60 never works for more than 15-or-so minutes even with an AC vent aimed directly at it. 1080p60 is its limit for any long-duration recording, and even then it still overheats from time to time if I'm in a particularly hot environment. Made me realize why so much of their marketing shows it being used underwater and skydiving lol
by nikisweeting
2 subcomments
- Good riddance, GoPro squandered their market lead for many years and shipped bafflingly mediocre software that seemed to add more bugs with every generation.
I hope Insta360, DJI, and many more competitors spring up out of their ashes. Assuming fast microsd cards for writes, how much DDR RAM do they really need to buffer videos during recording? 4gb? 8gb?
by frenchtoast8
0 subcomment
- GoPro has had two years of falling revenue. While I’m sure the memory shortage isn’t helping their profits I’m not sure it is entirely to blame for continued falling revenue.
by rickcarlino
0 subcomment
- Looking forward to no firmware updates and getting locked out of cloud hosted features.
- Lots of bashing here so I feel compelled to say my piece that GoPros, despite their flaws, are still the best action camera in the market for many people, including me. They have a powerful set of customizations simple not possible on the their competitors via the Labs firmware. Not that DJI couldn't do that if they wanted to, but to this day, they don't.
- And they just released a cool camera too one with detachable lens
- The physical buttons on a GoPro are frustrating to use: hold down or continuously press or press once. No thanks.
The software is bad too: WiFi hotspot that disconnects from your usual phone WiFi. Now sync to the app. Nag about a cloud subscription. Now choose photos and sync to your phone gallery. No thanks.
- Weird case of the software letting the hardware down. You did the hard part guys!
- Yeah well as soon as I started seeing it reported that GoPro's were requiring a mobile phone to be used (or at least making it inconvenient to use a camera without one) I lost all interest in getting one.
- Given how underwhelming (photo/video influencer ad "reviews" aside) the new over-hyped models they released are, they should not survive.
- realistically most gopros ever sold are collecting dust in some drawer, and if you have a GoPro 5 from 10 years ago that does 4K video, there isn't really a need to keep buying new ones ...
by Marciplan
1 subcomments
- Can anyone explain the financials involved why this brand, worth so little in market cap, but brand value definitely a lot more than that assumes it is; isn't just swallowed up like a Fitbit?
by kylehotchkiss
2 subcomments
- I don't care so much about GoPro. I am worried about Fujifilm though, they seem on the cusp of a golden era.
- I honestly thought GoPro and FitBit had both been stomped out a long time ago, and we were just watching new companies brand-squatting.
by thot_experiment
5 subcomments
- They certainly wouldn't survive if capitalism was working as intended. GoPro is one of the most institutionally arrogant companies around, they seem unable to understand that they have competition. (Which to be fair they absolutely didn't for the first few years of their existence). In 2026 they make a mediocre product with horrible software, and even worse customer service.
In contrast, I've smashed the absolute shit out of my insta360 lenses 3 times now (total cost to replace lens 3x $50), and when I smashed the screen to smithereens, they fixed it, OUT OF WARRANTY, for $50 including parts and labor, and they paid for shipping.
There is zero reason to buy a gopro, they don't have a single compelling product and HOLY FUCK the software is bad compared to insta360.
- Unfortunately I feel this was inevitable as GoPro did not stay on top of hardware design.
DJI and Insta360 offer compelling products. And budget, lower quality 1080p-4k action cams got eaten by Akaso and other clones.
by saltyoldman
2 subcomments
- They may need to expand their marketing past red bull. Perhaps gardeners, home builders and landscapers. Maybe come up with a marketing package where you can buy a gopro and get a youtube video boost via a YouTube GoPro + Creator video drop (one per purchase).
by josefritzishere
2 subcomments
- But people want a GoPro, and people hate AI. It's like the market isn't listening or something.
Hacker News