GoPro is recalling its Karma drone • Hacker News Board

Re: GoPro is recalling its Karma drone

#11

Post by sschueller » Wed, Nov 09, 2016, 3:06 PM UTC

olex wrote: post #2

This is not looking good for GoPro at all. The Karma hasn't had really good reviews from the very start, and once DJI released the Mavic it basically lost all chances of grabbing a significant portion of the market. Now this is adding to the injury.

Yes exactly.

When I first saw the karma I was intrigued especially because of the removable gimbal but then DJI announced the Mavic Pro and it is just generations ahead of the Karma even thought the gimbal is fixed.

Karma doesn't have any of the flight intelligence that the Mavic has which is very disappointing.

Re: GoPro is recalling its Karma drone

#12

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Nov 09, 2016, 3:09 PM UTC

bpicolo wrote: post #9

yabatopia wrote: post #3

I'm surprised by the low number. Of course, it makes it easier for a recall, but 2,500 sold Karmas seems like a very disappointing launch for a new GoPro product category. Or maybe drones are less popular than I thought.

Seems like an extremely saturated market.

[deleted]

Re: GoPro is recalling its Karma drone

#13

Post by huffpopo » Wed, Nov 09, 2016, 3:44 PM UTC

The stock fell from $85 to $10. At around ~$60 the CEO sells ~$180M in stock to buy a yacht. This may sound stupid to most people but consider this. While yachts depreciate they depreciate less that GoPro stock, which the CEO could have known. CEOs need an excuse to sell large chunks of stock. And given that GoPro is* being sued for grossly misrepresenting projections the CEO can make plausible case that he believed in his own projections no matter how outlandish - because after all he bought a yacht. So while a yacht may look like a ridiculous waste of money, it can actually be a very smart investment.

*or was, I don't keep that close of an eye on them.

Re: GoPro is recalling its Karma drone

#14

Post by TaylorGood » Wed, Nov 09, 2016, 5:13 PM UTC

Why did they have to go public? Had they not, their bio would read like:

GoPro. A private company with a cool brand and strong following which sells versatile cameras, is testing out a drone and makes millions along the way.

Of course, not every IPO leads to warmth and smiles but for this company in particular it has seemed like such a burden.

Re: GoPro is recalling its Karma drone

#15

Post by totalZero » Wed, Nov 09, 2016, 8:10 PM UTC

grosbisou wrote: post #7

olex wrote: post #2

This is not looking good for GoPro at all. The Karma hasn't had really good reviews from the very start, and once DJI released the Mavic it basically lost all chances of grabbing a significant portion of the market. Now this is adding to the injury.

It's dramatic... Wasn't the drone their come back strategy?

I saw it as a way to show off their brand, the same way that car companies have race teams. A bunch of cool GoPro videos on YouTube, drone displays in stores, etc. But they undersold even the conservative sales figure needed to accomplish that marketing goal. Now it seems they have abandoned it entirely (at least for the time being).