GoPro makes swift exit from drone market, confirms job cuts following weak Karma sales
Roger Fingas
In a Monday earnings report, GoPro announced plans to end drone sales after it sells out of remaining Karma models, and engage in cost-cutting measures to right itself financially — including laying off hundreds of people.
Its workforce will shrink from 1,254 to "fewer than 1,000" worldwide, the company said. CEO Nicholas Woodman, meanwhile, will see his 2018 cash compensation shrink to $1.
Fourth-quarter revenue was $340 million, marking the company's worst holiday season since its 2014 IPO, especially since it had already been predicting a low $470 million. To spur demand for its iPhone-compatible Hero action cameras, it dropped the price of the Hero5 Black on Dec. 10, and the Hero6 Black on Jan. 7. The latter is now $399 instead of its original $499.
GoPro should return to profitability in the second half of 2018, Woodman said in a statement. Word of layoffs first emerged last week.
The company had been counting on the Karma to boost business and fend off competition. The drone was launched in late 2016, but was quickly recalled after some units lost power mid-flight. It went back on sale in February 2017, but GoPro was never able to catch up with the likes of China's DJI.
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