GoPro misses revenue targets on sluggish sales, marketing mistakes

GoPro Inc has announced quarterly results below the market forecast as the demand for new cameras has been sluggish in the market. Recently launched wearable cameras haven't been received well by the market.

The new products were failed to click in the US market, which accounts for three-fourth of its sales, as well. The smartphones loaded with camera and video advanced features are eating into wearable cameras market. GoPro is upbeat on future prospects in overseas markets including Japan, China and South Korea.

GoPro manufactures helmet and body-mounted cameras and its products are popular among surfers, skydivers and adventure sports enthusiasts. However, the latest smartphones with advanced camera and video features are denting the market of wearable cameras.  

Revenues of the company grew 43 percent to $400.3 million as against the forecast of $433.6 million.

Analysts predicted earnings per share would be 29 cents, but the company recorded 25 cents per share excluding one-time items.  

The recently launched smartphones are hitting hard the sales of wearable cameras in the global market. For instance, Apple Inc's iPhone 6 range is considered to be a major threat to wearable cameras.

Facing a stiff market competition, GoPro has started slashing camera prices. Recently GoPro has launched 'HERO4 Sessions' camera priced at $399.99 in July and subsequently reduced it to $100. 

The North American market contributes 75 percent of the total sales at GoPro. Wearable cameras of GoPro witnessed sales drop to the tune of seven percent to $190.8mn during the quarter. 

GoPro's CEO Nick Woodman agreed that the company has made certain mistakes in its latest product Hero4 Session camera launch.

After the announcement, Woodman in an interview with CNBC said: "If Session had been stronger out of the gates, if we hadn't mispriced it and if we had backed it up with the marketing it deserved, I think we would have had a very different earnings call yesterday."

The company's shares dropped 14 percent to $26.05. The results that missed expectations have disappointed the market and investors as well. Woodman said despite the missing the market expectations, the company's revenues were up 43 percent when compared with the previous corresponding period.

Woodman considers the performance as good and there's growing demand for GoPro products. After the IPO in 2014, GoPro witnessed a huge halo effect and is now focusing on market strategies to boost the top line.

The strong demand in overseas markets helped GoPro push sales volume by three-folds in wearable cameras. More particularly, Japan, South Korea and China markets are growing very fast for wearable cameras, according to GoPro as it shipped 1.59 million units during the quarter from 1.08mn units in the previous corresponding quarter. The overseas sales rose to $210 million.