Hero 4 Session sales may hint at that
Don't get me wrong, I am still a huge fan of Go Pro and what they have achieved but lately I have been having doubts. Especially as I never really liked the Hero 4 Session anyway.
This tends to happen as soon as a company goes public on the stock exchange. Their loyalties and allegiances shift from consumer to investor and that is when things go wrong (or start to).
Once they go public, many companies tend to bow to the investors' whims and requests.
Which inevitably leads to corners being cut and products being released for the hell of it for some businesses. Not necessarily Go Pro.
Waiting...
Every year I wait in anticipation for the latest Go Pro to be released as I know they will improve it in leaps and bounds. This year is no exception...I am still waiting!
It seems that in place of a HD Hero 5, we may have to accept that the Go Pro HD Hero 4 Session is all we are getting this year! Is this uncertainty affecting their stock figures? See below for yourself how the share price has fallen in less than a year since the Go Pro HD Hero 4 launched:
The fact that Go Pro recently shaved $100 from the price of a Hero 4 Session from $399 to $299 only adds fuel to that particular fire. I thought it was way over-priced on release anyway.
Also check out this humdinger of a Power Pack from Go Pro.
I saw (glimpsed) it quickly somewhere in the last week and thought it was interesting. That was until I saw the specs and price! I did a Google image search and found it on their website but when I click through to the page, the page has been removed and even a search within their website pulls up no results:
However, when you search for Go Pro Portable Power Pack, there are some good companies offering it for pre-order. Power? 6000mAh. Price? £63!!!!!
Are you kidding me?
I have a cool Anker Astro 5600 which you can now get for a mere $18 (£11.50) on Amazon which does the same job. And it has a torch. Plus the Anker 15000mAh version which is around $35 (£22 approx) which has the double USB socket, torch and fast charging.
Just for good measure, I also have the RAV Power Knight Rider14,000mAh which also does a great job for $49 (£23).
Why would I want to pay £63 (or nearly $100) for a similar product and just to keep a bunch of investors/shareholders happy? I just hope Anker don't float on the stock exchange anytime soon!
On a more positive note for Go Pro, I am hoping that 2016 will be a bumper year for them. I don't want the Session style of camera, all I want is the same sized camera as the HD Hero 4 (so I can still use it with all the accessories/DJI Phantom/Feiyu Tech gimbals and so on) but would like to see cool improvements such as:
Not much to ask ; )
If a HD Hero 5 comes out with that and more, I am still a customer. However, with companies like DJI releasing superb products like their amazing, beautiful and "I-will-more-than-likely-buy-one" new handheld 4K camera and gimbal system DJI Osmo, Go Pro need to play catch up!
I also think (hope) Go Pro are working furiously on an amazing, ground-breaking drone/UAV system. One that will blow everything else out of the water. Maybe this is why we aren't seeing the usual release of a Hero 5?
No doubt the moment I publish this blog, Go Pro will release a Go Pro HD Hero 4+ or 5…
Anyway, I still love Go Pro and all this competition will ultimately make us gadget freaks happy people. Just keep the prices sensible please…if you don't your competition will : )
It’s sunny now and I'm off to fly my drone…
