GoPro cuts more jobs in quest for profit

CALIFORNIA: Mini-camera maker GoPro announced plans on Thursday to trim another 270 jobs in a quest to become profitable.

GoPro, which soared to popularity with cameras used for social media and extreme sports photography, said the new round of cuts is part of an internal reorganisation to “do fewer things better.”

It follows a cut in November of 15 per cent of GoPro’s staff, about 200 jobs at the time. Chief executive Nick Woodman said GoPro last year did a “Herculean job” of rolling out cloud connect cameras, mobile editing applications, an online platform for editing or sharing videos, and a Karma drone designed to carry its cameras.

“We have shifted from a revolutionary year last year to an evolutionary year this year,” Woodman said on a conference call.

“It is far less risky to evolve than to be revolutionary; we feel we are more capable to expand the consumer experience with the reduced team that we have now.”

He stressed that the company was facing no new problems, with revenue on the rise, and that the belt-tightening was motivated by a drive to become profitable.

GoPro shares jumped more than 8 per cent to $7.98 in after-market trades that followed word of the cost-cutting efforts.

Woodman said that revenue in the current quarter was on track to be at the high end of the Californian company’s forecast of $190 million to $210 million. — AFP