GoPro announced today that it anticipated $435 million in Q4 revenue and $1.6 billion for the calendar year. The news couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Facing pressure by investors to sell more cameras and begin to identify more income streams, GoPro failed to deliver.
In an email obtained by Re/code, CEO Nick Woodman placed the blame on the “launch and pricing” of GoPro’s $399 Hero 4 session camera:
Today’s announcement reflects the issues we faced in 2015, largely related to our launch and pricing of HERO4 Session. While we clearly made a mistake pricing Session at $399 (more specifically I made the mistake, it was my decision), I’m proud of how we responded. We recognized the problem, price adjusted to $299 … recognized that wasn’t enough and price adjusted again to $199 which positioned Session as the best entry-level product we’ve ever made.
In a cost-cutting move after the disappointing announcement, the action sports camera company plans to cut 7 percent of its workforce after growing at a rate over 50 percent the previous two years.
It’ll also lose the company’s top media executive, Zander Lurie, as he leaves his job and moves to the GoPro board.
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News of the turmoil surrounding GoPro has sent the stock into a sort of freefall in after hours trading. Already at an all-time low, the 23.34% drop after today’s announcement sent the stock reeling.
➤ GoPro plummets more than 20% on weak holiday sales, layoffs [MarketWatch]
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