There was a lot of anticipation in DigitalRev HQ last night as the GoPro announcement kicked off. We’d heard a lot about the Karma, and a few of us were writing if off before we’d even seen it, assuming that GoPro were too late to a notoriously overcrowded market.
Could a plucky action camera manufacturer really compete with the king of drones? 24 hours ago that seemed unlikely, but after yesterday's press event it certainly looks like it.
GoPro has been coasting downhill for a while now, with falling sales and a number of ultimately failed or overpriced products dragging down the company’s stock price. Karma, the product that was set to save the fortunes of the California-based company, was delayed by 6 months shortly after the announcement of the DJI Phantom 4, its biggest competitor. Several analysts feared that the Karma could become vapourware, a product that would languish in development for months or even years, never quite being ready for release. Yesterday Nick Woodman, GoPro CEO, proved them wrong.
US$799 pushes the Karma into impulse buy territory for many consumers, a space that DJI has always struggled to occupy.
The biggest cheer of the night came at the announcement of the price – US$799. If consumers want to bundle a Session 5 or Hero 5 Black, bundles are available (US$999 with a Session, US$1099 with a Hero), but that rock-bottom figure pushes the Karma into impulse buy territory for many consumers, a space that DJI has always struggled to occupy.
The Phantom 4 costs well in excess of $1,000 in any configuration (although that does include a camera) and only the 18-month-old Phantom 3 can be had for a price comparable to the Karma.
The Karma also has the advantage of being modular and including a stabiliser (DJI’s recently-released Osmo+ costs US$649, while the smartphone version costs US$299). It will be compatible with newer GoPros, too, so you won’t need to invest in an entire new system to get the latest and greatest camera, you can simply hang on to your drone but add a new camera.
This solves one of GoPro’s biggest struggles of the past three years – users feeling as though they didn’t have a reason to upgrade. The Karma presents them with a brand new way to use older GoPro models as well as an upgrade path to new products. Rumours abound about a similar foldable drone on the way from DJI, but that may not appear until after Photokina.
Of course, reviewers have yet to get their hands on the Karma, and some things are still unclear about the product, but from what we’ve seen so far, it looks like it could be a saviour for GoPro.
In the few days before the announcement, the company’s stock price spiked, and is likely to continue to trend upwards assuming reviews are good. Just a few months back, we lamented the lack of innovation and forward momentum at the company, but we’re most certainly eating our words today. It’s good to have you back in the game, GoPro.
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. digitalrev.com
2016-10-7 03:00
