GoPro hopes 2 new cameras can lure phone shutterbugs

Will the new cameras from GoPro help improve its overall business picture?

That’s what GoPro is hoping for with the release of its new Hero8 Black and Hero Max sport-action cameras, which the San Mateo-based company is putting on the market in an effort to grab the attention, and possibly dollars, of consumers as the end-of-the-year Christmas and holiday shopping season kicks into high gear.

But, can GoPro make more of a go of it at a time when more people seem to be content with using their phones as their main camera and not an extra device that they have to carry around. Earlier this year, GoPro Chief Executive Nick Woodman said the company was on its was toward having a profitable second half of 2019. But any sustainable earnings will be reliant upon GoPro being able to entice consumers to spend more money for a camera that, for some, could just be an unnecessary extravagance.

“GoPro is tasked with not only maintaining enthusiasm from its core market of extreme athletes and adventurers,” said Alicia Reese, an analyst who cover GoPro for Wedbush Securities. “But expanding the market beyond its core enthusiast. “Their biggest challenge is competing with the increasing capabilities of built-in cameras on mobile phones.”

The Hero8 Black is part of GoPro’s latest attempt appeal to camera users. The camera comes with a 12-megapixel camera sensor, better technologies for shooting pictures and video in circumstances with low light, the capability to shoot slow-motion and 4K video, and a price tag of $399. For anyone wanting an even more-professional picture and video-taking experience, the Go Pro Max, which costs $499, can shoot ultra-sharp 360-degree 5.6K video, and comes with an option to back up videos automatically to the cloud.

GoPro said both cameras can be pre-ordered from the company’s website. The Hero Black 8 will begin shipping on Oct. 15, while the Hero Max starts shipping on Oct. 24. The company also came out with a set of new, optional modular units that can attach to the cameras to improve picture and video framing of images.

But, while GoPro’s newest cameras are hitting the market at a time when consumers are more likely to open up their wallets as they seek to fill others’ holiday wish lists, the Hero8 Black and Hero Max are also facing competition unlike the company has never seen. For instance, Apple has already begun shipping its new iPhone 11 iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max with the most-advanced cameras ever built into an iPhone, and with features that could likely satisfy many professional photographers in addition to casual picture takers.

And as can be the case with the new iteration of any tech gadget, there is matter of whether or not GoPro’s newest cameras are different enough for current customers to retire their old models.

“For the core GoPro enthusiast who has been waiting to upgrade, there is little reason to go with the Hero8 over the Hero7,” said Reese, of Wedbush Securities. In addition to releasing its new Hero cameras, GoPro cut the price of its Hero7 Black camera, which it originally released a year ago, to $329 from $399.

And, despite all that GoPro might do make its cameras look glitzier and more appealing to potential buyers, analysts say the company is fighting a battle to expand its customer base that might not be winnable.

“It comes down to the point that phones are being viewed as the actual camera for consumers,” said Angelo Zino, of CFRA Research. “When they went public, their hope was that they could get their hardware into the hands of the soccer moms of the world. But, that hasn’t worked out for them and outside of people like avid athletes, they haven’t been able to really increase their addressable customer market.”