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?
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).
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.
I participate in a niche sport that uses specialized software for data. Go pro is one of few cameras supported by that software for automatically syncing video to your data so you can judge what happened in context with data. Not to say you're wrong about most of that, just that there are still valid reasons to get a go pro for some people.
We also hate on go pro for their failures, overheating, and just straight up not working, but they're the best option we have.
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?
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
As a diver, if you jump into moderately warm water (the Great Barrier Reef for instance), that won't save you either. Mine overheats and dies after 15-20 minutes. It took diving near Seattle to keep it going continuously.
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
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.
I bike commute with an old Hero 8 on my handlebars, and I never bother controlling or setting it up or anything: just power on, press record (which dismisses the nag dialog to connect it to your phone). That does mean the timestamps are always nonsense, but I am not too worried (I guess if I get run over again the lawyers can argue over if the one video on the card that shows me being run over is in fact from the day in question...)
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.
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.
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 ...
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.
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.
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[ 2.1 ms ] story [ 69.9 ms ] threadIn 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.
DJI and Insta360 offer compelling products. And budget, lower quality 1080p-4k action cams got eaten by Akaso and other clones.
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?
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
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.
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.