GoPro sales down 49.5% year-on-year and drone set for delay

GoPro’s Q1 report has revealed that sales revenue declined by some 49.5% on the same period in 2015, down to $183.5 million. Despite shipping more cameras than ever in 2015, the result is a $121 million loss, attributed largely to the Session’s below expectation performance.

Standing in stark contrast to the 16% growth achieved in 2015 and 41% increase in 2014, the financial results paint a troubling picture for the global camera giant, which has recently recruited one of Apple’s elite designers in a bid to re-invent the product.

The Karma Drone, a product that was expected to re-invigorate sales, will also face delays until winter of this year, said the firm.

“Consumer demand for GoPro remains solid,” said Nicholas Woodman, GoPro Founder and CEO. “Unit sell-thru was close to first quarter 2015 levels, a quarter which benefited from the launch of HERO4. Revenue exceeded our guide and, importantly, unit sell-thru rates were approximately 50% higher than sell-in which drove global inventory levels down. And while we had to make the difficult decision to delay our drone, Karma, the upside is that Karma’s launch should now benefit from the holidays.”

The company has now released footage of its Omni rig, a high-end 360-degree film rig that will allow six cameras to deliver immersive footage. The below video is a sample of what to expect and you can click the screen to drag the footage around the full 360-degrees.