GoPro’s Founder Promises It Isn’t Done Making Consumer Cameras

This morning, GoPro’s founder Nick Woodman published a letter to GoPro’s website addressing concerns about the future of the company and how the choice to be acquired by Starman Optical will affect the products the company is best known for.

Still calling himself GoPro’s CEO (it’s not clear if his role will remain once the acquisition completes), Woodman says that its merger with Starman is all for the sake of stability, but the company isn’t done making consumer cameras.

“We understand there’s some concern about GoPro’s post-merger commitment to continue developing market leading cameras for consumers and professionals. Making amazing cameras for all of you is our core DNA and reason for being and that will never change! We’re fired up about what’s ahead for GoPro and want to share a little more about what our proposed merger with Starman means for our future,” Woodman says.

“Thanks to the improved financial strength this merger will provide, we’ll be in a much better position to innovate, invent and advance the future of consumer and professional content creation. And importantly, Starman shares our passion for the GoPro brand, developing market leading products and our commitment to your collective stoke.”

When the two companies announced the acquisition, Starman Optical specifically noted that it wanted GoPro’s optical and imaging patents and technology so that it could pivot the company to national security related to cameras, optics, and AI infrastructure. That did not sound at all like consumer cameras and, frankly, GoPro had been losing significant ground in that space for years to the point that its market share has dwindled.

“We’ve accumulated more than 2500 patents over the last 24 years which tells you we’ve been busy innovating, and this merger will ensure we’re able to innovate for many more years to come. We expect this merger will make GoPro a stronger, more capable camera company than ever before,” Woodman continues.

“Our goal is to become a more diversified company which can make us stronger financially, enabling GoPro to become as awesome as we (and you) want us to be. We plan to bring you more innovative cameras, smarter accessories, and more powerful software and services designed to make capturing, editing and sharing your experiences easier and more exciting than ever. We see opportunities to improve the products you already love while developing new tools and experiences that help you create, connect and share in entirely new ways.”

Woodman is making it sound as though GoPro will have two divisions: the one that Starman Optical cares about as well as the one that Woodman’s original GoPro cares about. It is rare for a single company to tow such divergent lines, but it isn’t unheard of.

“We have so much more to do, so much more to invent, and so much more we want to bring to the GoPro community. We appreciate all of you who have been on this journey with us and we’re excited about where we’re headed. We’re going to keep doing what we do best – making the world’s highest-performance cameras and building the products, services and innovations that help you capture life’s most exciting moments. It’s what we were founded to do and it’s what we will always do,” he concludes.

The acquisition of GoPro by Starman Optical is expected to close by the end of the year.