GoPro To Layoff 7% Of Workers After Poor Holiday Sales

Following a poor holiday season, GoPro has announced that it will be laying off 7-percent of its workforce. As well, the company expects that its revenues for the last quarter will be substantially lower than analysts had estimated. GoPro expects to report revenue of $435 million, while analysts were expecting the company to pull in $521 million or thereabouts in its fourth quarter.

GoPro has faced increased competition in the action cam market, and that competition continues to grow. Sony, for example, offers its own action cam, which was recently updated. In addition, some new big players are slated to enter the field. At CES 2016 earlier this month, for example, Nikon took the wraps off its new KeyMission 360, an action camera that also records 360-degree videos for VR headsets.

GoPro enjoyed the good life for a while, and it grew its workforce substantially over the past couple years — its growth amounted to more than 50-percent every year, bringing the work force total to 1500 by the end of last year.

Unfortunately, the growth has fallen short of revenue, and GoPro has found itself in the uncomfortable position of shedding extraneous workers. The company will purge 7-percent of its workers while taking on between a $5 and $10 million charge. As expected, GoPro's shares dropped substantially (more than 20-percent) following the news.

SOURCE: MarketWatch