GoPro intends to make more specialised "premium" cameras

In a recent earnings call, GoPro's CEO Nick Woodman stated the company's intention to expand its camera lineup with two new separate "premium" product lines.

Currently the company offers the HERO8, HERO9, and HERO10 models along with the MAX 360 camera, but Woodman stated in the earnings call that he wants to expand the lineup for more specialised use cases, but utilising the same technology as the existing cameras.

GoPro has been buoyed recently with an increasingly good financial standing, with profits overall for 2021 up 30% over the previous year, and it has been difficult to speculate where the company can take things simply by sticking with the HERO line.

In a commentary on the earnings call, Woodman stated, "At the end of 2022, we plan to increase our hardware offering from the two product types we have today – HERO and MAX – to four distinct camera products. And we expect to expand that further by the end of 2023. This is in addition to the aggressive roadmap we have planned for software, including new cloud capabilities and an all-new subscription-based desktop application."

This is interesting stuff indeed, and although no specific types of camera have been mentioned, it might not be beyond the realms of potential to have a more professionally orientated compact 'stunt' camera of some sort recording to a higher end codec. Another hint is in another note for the call, which states the company's intention to be, "Creating derivative cameras to diversify our offerings, targeting TAM-expanding use- cases in a more specific manner than we do today."

The Verge reported that GoPro wants to move beyond making “Swiss Army knife” that everyone can use. Instead, Woodman announced the company's intention to make “premium solutions” that would fit specific use-cases and would focus on users who need more than what the existing cameras can currently provide.

Clearly the company has already begun development on the devices with two very specific cameras and it will be incredibly interesting to see what GoPro comes up with.

In other news, GoPro recently won its second Emmy Award for its technical achievements with the HyperSmooth digital stabilisation system. GoPro won its first Emmy with the HERO3 Black, which broke new ground for action camera image quality and performance at the time.