Most of us remember when GoPro was THE gadget for anyone who thought jumping out of a plane or shredding a mountain was just another Saturday. And it wasn't long before everyone had one, whether they were strapping it to their dog or sticking it in a pizza oven. The little block action camera became the go-to for capturing all the adrenaline-fueled moments and now we’ve got over a decade’s worth of Youtube videos to show for it. 

Let’s take a trip down memory lane for a minute. Back in 2002, Nick Woodman was just a dude who wanted to capture his surfing adventures from the perfect angle. Fast forward two years and GoPros’s HEROcamera hits the market. It wasn’t just any camera; it was cool, indestructible, and everybody had to have one. The HERO became the go-to device for every thrill-seeker and at its height it was flying off the shelves with nearly 7 million units sold in one year. That kind of success turned Nick Woodman into a billionaire almost overnight.

In 2014, GoPro took its success to Wall Street, launching an IPO priced at $24 per share. The excitement was off the charts, and on its first day of trading, the stock surged by 30%, closing at $31.34. By October, it had soared to around $98 per share before settling at $64 by year’s end, marking a remarkable 166% gain in its first year.

(Source: Inc. Magazine)

But that was then. These days, the San Mateo, California based company GoPro’s been having a rough go of it. They just announced they’re cutting 15% of their workforce—about 139 jobs—in a last-ditch effort to trim costs and stay afloat in a crowded market. Reminds me of my buddy who patched a leaky pipe with some Flex Seal tape—it might hold for now, but you know that thing’s gonna burst eventually.

I knew things were rough, but GoPro’s stock took a 65% dump over the past year—I wasn’t expecting that. And just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, their latest quarterly report drops like your favorite movie's bad sequel—revenue is down 23% from last year, barely scraping together $186 million. Meanwhile, their operating expenses are creeping up by 5%, now sitting at a bloated $103 million. And further delays in new product launches are expected to lower revenues by another $100 million this year. 

(Source: sfgate)

So, what’s the deal? How did GoPro, the king of action cams, end up in survival mode? Sure, smartphones have turned into Swiss Army knives with cameras that can do everything but your taxes—slow-mo, ultra-wide, you name it. But let’s be real, the real villain here is the tidal wave of cheap knock-off action cameras flooding the market. These budget-friendly copycats have gnawed away at GoPro’s market share like the termites on my kids wooden play set. 

In fact, the situation’s gotten so bad that the U.S. International Trade Commission stepped in earlier this year to investigate patent infringements against GoPro’s products. Turns out, some companies are so inspired by GoPro’s designs that they’ve decided to make their own “HERO” cameras—just without the GoPro price tag.

(Source: Reuters)

And if you think that’s rough, consider this: some GoPro users on Reddit are blaming the company’s downfall on a different issue entirely. Apparently, GoPro made a product so good that you only need to buy it once. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

But here’s the wild part: despite all this bad news, GoPro’s stock actually ticked up 1.5% after the layoffs were announced. Maybe investors are betting on a last-minute comeback.

If GoPro wants to stick around, they’ll need more than just a camera that looks cool strapped to a helmet. It’s time to shake things up, branch out, and find a way to stand out in a world where everyone’s already carrying a camera in their pocket. If not, the only thing they’ll be capturing is their own slow-mo crash landing.

Stocks.News holds a position in GoPro.