Business Ramblings By Nick / 4th February 2016 Share Tweet Share Can Go Pro pull it back with their Karma drone and Hero 5 sales?I have been such a fan of this company for years so to see their stock falling like this is quite worrying. Couple that with the fact that they are laying off 7% of their sales force and discontinuing a large chunk of its cameras and things look bleak. Check the Go Pro stock figures.Go Pro Q4 2015 earnings were $436.6 million which sounds good. However, it is a significant drop of 31% compared to the same quarter last year.Go Pro will only now produce the Hero 4 Black ($499.99), Hero 4 Silver ($399.99), and Hero 4 Session ($199.99). Also releasing the Hero 5 and Karma drone soon will aim to bolster sales and stock value.One has to think though that perhaps they entered the drone market a little late.Only 12 months ago, DJI pretty much had that market sewn up. What with the Phantom range and the amazing Inspire 1 with its new interchangeable lens. The X5 Professional and X5R (raw) cameras.Today, barely a week goes by where a new, exciting and innovative drone is not announced. It is a large bandwagon and everyone us clambering for space.Go Pro HD Hero 5 to the rescue?Personally, I would like to see the new Go Pro HD Hero 5 with specs that keep up with the rest of the market such as:check Distortion free footage even at wide anglescheck 4K (maybe 8K?) at 60fpscheck 1080p @ 240fpscheck Better low light performancecheck The same size (exactly…for accessories) as the HD Hero 4check Re-introduction of the 3.5mm audio jack (from the HD Hero 2)check Possibly even interchangeable lenses and a new range of Go Pro lensesNot too much to ask is it? After all, third party companies have been ripping the Go Pro apart and manufacturing lenses for a while now. They had the useful 3.5mm audio jack on the HD Hero 2. I guess the smaller they make 'em, the less space for cool stuff.The Karma drone really has to be something special for it to take the number one spot, or anywhere near it, for drone sales.There are some mighty fine UAV's out there (or in development) right now. So, I hope Go Pro were thinking way outside the box when they were putting this together.It will need to appeal to the hobbyist/amateur as well as the ever growing professional drone operator market if it is to "take off". Pun intended.Good luck Go Pro Whatever happens, I wish them well. Mainly because for years they have produced innovative and cool little action/sports cameras. Gadgets that opened up the world of film-making to a lot of very cool, adventurous and talented people.
