GoPro Going Public.
 

I just got an Email saying they are going Public with an IPO.

I wonder how this will impact their products moving forward. More money = more development?

Better products?

Faster updates?

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

Likely neither but may expand their range of products.
Iirc they also have quite a bit of debt to cover.

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

I think they mainly need to improve their lens in the GoPro. Get rid of the distortion so everything does not have the fisheye look. But they will probably try to make a cinema camera etc... with the new money.

I thought they were going places with the Protune announcement and Hero 3 but that seemed to never really materialize. Maybe they did run low on resources. The longer they wait the harder the space will be to dominate as the "little cameras" seem to be getting better by the day. GoPro will only have the get-wet and super rugged market as anything else can be covered just as well along with an LCD screen by the point and shoots.

I purchased a Panasonic LX-7 for $300 and one of its purposes was to be a "GoPro" type camera. Less distortion in the lens, great IS and image quality and the LCD is there for framing.

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

I agree with you Tim on that. It wouldn't take much foot gopro to lose massive market share overnight.

Put a dive case with a wide angle adapter on a canon S100 and what's the point of a gopro?
They are probably dying to diversify which is where I hope the extra cash goes.

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

A dive case and wide angle adapter is going to increase the size and weight way over the advantage the GoPro has in size and weight. GoPro is primarily a small lightweight rugged action action cam.

GoPro losing massive market share, don't think so, maybe you know something i don't. Have you read WHY GoPro has such huge market share? It's not the camera .... it's the Brand, it's the Marketing, it's all the millions of users posting videos of their activities online promoting GoPro at no cost to them. GoPros focus from here on wont be on the hardware, that's easy to do, a number of company's already have a camera as good or better, but what they don't have is GoPros vision on what drives the Brand.

Yes they will diversify, again not so much into hardware, but into areas that monetize their media content uploaded by others. Think, GoPro TV, Ad sales, media rights, etc, that's where GoPro is heading and that's the area they're hiring experts to develop.

They have shareholder Foxconn (Apple Product Manufacturer as well as Gopro) to exploit and are forming many other partnerships, the future is very bright indeed.

Do the research mate, it's not about the camera. ... Oh and GoPro have next to no debt, not sure what gave you the idea they had "lots of debt to cover", there's plenty of money in the bank and heaps more on the way.


R

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

The idea that GoPro has debt to cover comes from the fact that I've done research on their IPO. "Loads of cash on hand" does not mean they don't have significant debt. Debt isn't a bad thing, just that it means it's going to eat up a chunk of the $400m they are raising.

The idea that they could lose massive market share overnight comes from being somewhat well versed in business and knowing how this happens to companies just like GoPro, over and over and over.

Overall, I think they're caught between being a 1 SKU company and future media empire. But at this point it could go either way. Media is risky and Sony could snuff them out in a year by undercutting their flagship model by 50% and buying up all the Ken Blocks. On the other hand, GoPro could solidify by using some of their incoming cash to snap up the newer hotter companies like DJI and increasing their footprint.

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

I agree, 'facebook anyone?' GoPro now has a lot of competition, I almost bought one of these for it's infrared capability. It's about the same price, possibly cheaper . http://www.bodycameras.com/

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

The other option could be as simple as profit taking, depending on the dispensation strategy of the shares. I haven't been following the IPO at all but it wouldn't be too farfetched for the principles to want to see some return on their investment at a point when GoPro's market position is at a high point, increasing likelihood of aggressive up-bidding in the short term after IPO, much like Facebook.

And as Dylan says, the writing IS on the wall especially with DJI issuing the Phantom 2 with a non-GoPro camera built in. Time to either consolidate the market or shut them down. Now would be an ideal time to acquire DJI if the price is right if that's where GoPro wants to go.

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

You beat me to the DJI point Shaun. Perfect example. If I owned GoPro, they would be pretty high on my list of things to buy. That would help alleviate my nightmares of what would happen if Samsung, Google, Facebook, Panasonic, JVC, oh and that little 800lb gorilla named Sony wanted to play in my sandbox...

...Oh wait, they do.
No wonder Woodman wants to cash out.

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

I've thought a bit about investing in their IPO but ultimately I don't think I will.
One concern is that they will be losing a bit of talent once some of their staff realizes they're now millionaires (or close to it).
Also, from the prospectus, you can see GoPro's profits are declining as the years go by.
Their deaf ear regarding audio quality is revealing of their company's attitude towards us, the users.
Oh, by the way, do you realize their HQ is located directly over a fault-line?

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

Whether to invest or not depends on whether you are looking to "buy and hold" or "go for the ride".

I PERSONALLY don't think GoPro is a long term "buy and hold", based on fundamentals but there is likely to be volatility with upside potential if you are willing to watch the markets.

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

You forgot the scores of Chinese companies that produce knockoffs of gear that are potentially in violation of international patent and/or trademark/IP rights.

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

The system Loyal 3 that will be used by us peons to buy their stock only sells once a day. If you're anticipating a day trading experience, "going for the ride," Loyal 3 is not the way to go. But on the other hand, it's the only way to buy the stock at this point.

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

Interesting. As I mentioned earlier I haven't been watching the IPO. I was only speaking from my days working at a full service brokerage a LONG time ago as a marketer to a broker. My exposure was to the big markets (TSE/NYSE et al) These days I invest in ME.

Re: GoPro Going Public.
 

Pretty much backs up what I said above.

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"The quality of smartphone cameras continues to increase, as does the durability of the devices that house them, but GoPro has one advantage its mobile competitors can't build against. "I don't see anyone effectively competing with them because focusing on the quality of the hardware is missing the point," Stephen Baker, a VP of industry analysis for the NPD Group said. "Go Pro wins because of its ecosystem, because people want to be associated with the brand. It is about lifestyle and not hardware — which is a good thing."