| GoPro Developing Line of Consumer Drones
Company Plans To Start Selling Multi-Rotor Helicopters With High-Def Cameras Late Next Year
By Jack Nicas
Wall Street Journal
Nov. 26, 2014 11:54 a.m. ET
GoPro Inc. is developing its own line of consumer drones to expand from its core business of making wearable video cameras popular with surfers and other sports enthusiasts, according to people familiar with its plans.
The company plans to start selling multi-rotor helicopters equipped with high-definition cameras late next year, aiming for a price tag between $500 and $1,000, according to these people.
The entry of a big consumer-electronics brand to the drone market signals how mainstream—and lucrative—the industry has become in just a few years. Consumers have flocked to unmanned aircraft in recent years as technology advances have made them smaller, cheaper and easier to fly, leaving regulators scrambling to keep up.
Consumer drones are typically lightweight helicopters with cameras that can be controlled with a tablet or smartphone. U.S. regulators allow their use by hobbyists. The devices are expected to be hot sellers this holiday season and have even inspired their own version of the selfie, or self-portrait photo, called a “dronie.”
GoPro’s move into drones comes as its market-leading camcorder business faces competition from rivals such as Sony Corp. and others. The 10-year old company, which went public in June, has been investing heavily in research and development to maintain its lead in the camera business, which shipped nearly 2.8 million units in the first nine months of the year, up 15% from the same period last year.
San Mateo, Calif.-based GoPro is already a supporting player in the drone market, providing many of the roughly 3 oz. cameras that consumer drones carry. But GoPro may be hedging against a business it could be losing; the world’s biggest consumer drone maker, SZ DJI Technology Co. of China, recently started selling devices that come with its own in-house cameras. Other drone makers could stop supporting GoPro devices if they are competing head-to-head with the camera maker.
“I’m happy to let GoPro keep making great cameras and we’ll keep making great copters,” said Colin Guinn, senior vice president of sales at Berkeley, Calif.-based 3D Robotics Inc., which sells GoPro cameras with its drones.
Mr. Guinn said he was surprised at GoPro’s move, adding that most 3D Robotics’ customers already own GoPro cameras before buying its drones.
In an email, a GoPro spokesman said the company’s users are already producing “jaw-dropping GoPro footage recorded from quadcopters,” or drones. He added, “Earlier this year, to study the policy implications and to protect the rights of our users, GoPro joined the Washington-based Small UAV Coalition,” a drone advocacy group.
GoPro sells its cameras—priced between $200 and $500—on its website and through big retailers like Best Buy Co. The company has also been developing a media brand to diversify its revenues.
Sales climbed to $763 million in the first nine months of 2014, compared with $624 million a year earlier. Its shares are up 138% since it went public on Nasdaq in June.
French electronics company Parrot SA helped launch the consumer-drone craze in 2010 with its line of $300 quadcopters. Parrot said it sold $24.2 million in consumer drones in the third quarter, up 38% from a year earlier.
China’s DJI launched its $1,000 Phantom quadcopters in early 2013, and generated sales of $130 million last year. Revenue is expected to rise at least threefold this year.
Companies are also using unmanned aircraft in industries like filmmaking, construction and mining, despite an effective ban on their commercial use in the U.S. by the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency is expected to propose rules next month for commercial drones.
Write toJack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com
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