Is GoPro the next Kodak? AI could bring down the action cam pioneer as
filings raise substantial doubt about its future

Date:
Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:42:52 +0000

Description:
Due to slim profit margins and fast-rising memory prices, action camera giant GoPro may have some difficult financial decisions to make very soon.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter On June 1, GoPro filed a regulatory notice disclosing "substantial doubt about the company's ability
to continue." The culprit? A deadly combination of increased competition, plummeting sales and soaring memory prices. It seems scarcely believable that the firm that essentially invented the action camera should be struggling,
but there's been a long road to get to this point. GoPro's origin story is almost comically Californian. Founder Nick Woodman started the company in
2002 with a loan from his parents and a surfer's frustration at not being
able to capture what he was doing out on the waves.

Woodman's first product was a wrist strap designed to hold a camera, but by 2004 he was selling his own branded cameras, designed specifically for action sports photography. In 2012, GoPro accounted for more than a fifth of all digital camcorders sold in the US. A year later, Woodman would become a billionaire. GoPro founder and CEO Nick Woodman showing off the GoPro Hero 2 camera in 2011. (Image credit: GoPro) GoPro's 2014 IPO was the high watermark for the company. GoPro wasn't just a camera maker by that point, but a
full-on lifestyle brand. It had democratized the hero shot and put cinematic self-shot footage within reach of anyone who owned a surfboard, a mountain bike or a pair of skis. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: Where
things started to go wrong Suddenly, problems arrived quickly and from multiple directions. In 2016, GoPro launched its Karma drone to considerable fanfare, only to recall every single unit within weeks after some begun to lose power and drop out of the sky. The drone made a brief reappearance in 2017 before being quietly canned; margin pressures were cited, but the
reality was that the China-based DJI already had the consumer drone market sewn up in a way that left almost no room for a late entrant.

GoPro's ventures into virtual reality with the Omni and Fusion followed a similar faltering trajectory. Meanwhile, smartphone cameras were getting capable enough to satisfy the casual end of the market, while DJI and
Insta360 were building serious action camera competition at the top. GoPro found itself squeezed from both sides. You may like GoPro is back with its biggest action camera shake-up in 20 years Cinematic teaser shows GoPro is moving on from action cams, but to where? My weekend with the GoPro Mission 1 Pro: an action packed point-and shoot

A bold pivot toward a direct-to-consumer model and subscription service
helped stabilize things for a while, with subscriber numbers growing sharply through 2020 and 2021. But revenue kept trending the wrong way, while the competitive pressure never let up. The GoPro Karma drone was a huge gamble
for the company, and it didn't pay off. An unexpected blow The latest twist
in this tale is that GoPro's current crisis hasn't been caused by a rival outmaneuvering it or a botched product launch. Instead, the AI infrastructure boom has generated a voracious demand for memory chips at the datacenter level, pulling supply away from consumer electronics and sending prices soaring; memory reportedly more than doubled in cost in some cases during the first quarter of this year. Pair that with weaker sales through April and
May, and the regulatory filing starts to make sense. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

GoPro was already running on thin margins, so these rising AI-driven costs come at a terrible time. The company's own warning states that without new financing or a strategic transaction, it may be required to "significantly reduce, restructure, or cease operations." No specific plans along those
lines have been announced as the time of writing. Today's best GoPro Mission
1 Pro, GoPro HERO13 Black, DJI Osmo Action 6 and Insta360 Ace Pro 2 deals GoPro Mission 1 Pro 599.99 View See all prices GoPro HERO13 Black 399.99 273.70 View See all prices DJI Osmo Action 6 343 View See all prices Insta360 Ace Pro 2 389.99 325 View See all prices We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices What it means for you There's a cruel irony in the timing. GoPro launched its Mission 1 range just weeks ago a trio of cameras that represent a genuine step forward for the brand, with 8K capture, impressive stabilization, and enough versatility to appeal well beyond the traditional action camera crowd. We have an in-depth review on the way, but our early impressions suggest that the Mission 1 is a great piece of engineering, and that the company that still knows what it's doing when it comes to hardware design. The filing, however, shows that it may be running out of time to prove it. The new GoPro Mission 1 range is technically bold but has it arrived too late to save the company's fortunes? (Image credit: GoPro) And if the worst happens and the brand does exit the market, there could be some major consequences for consumers. GoPro is the Coca-Cola of action cameras: the brand that everyone reaches for first and the name that defines the category in mainstream consciousness. Rivals like Insta360 and
DJI make excellent products, and they'd continue to push each other forward without GoPro around. But its loss would mean losing the market's default reference point, and losing the brand that competitors have spent years measuring themselves against. It's the sort of presence that doesn't get replaced easily, and its absence rarely works out in the consumer's favor.

Nothing is written in stone yet, and GoPro may yet turn things around. But
the notice feels like the sort of document that tends to mark a turning
point, one way or another. We'll be keeping an eye on developments, and will bring you more news on what happens next for GoPro. Follow TechRadar on
Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/cameras/action-cameras/is-gopro-the-next-kodak-ai-co uld-bring-down-the-action-cam-pioneer-as-filings-raise-substantial-doubt-about -its-future


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