14 DAY TRIAL // GoPro has recently announced a massive restructuring plan at a global level, with the company planning to lay off some 20 percent of its workforce.
More specifically, GoPro says the new strategy is specifically supposed to help it “become a more efficient and profitable” company, so it wants to focus on consumers directly in the long term.
As a result, GoPro is trying to reduce operating expenses this year by no less than $100 million and to $250 million next year. Additional expenses cuts are also prepared across the business, the company says.
Hundreds of job cuts
But one of the worst news concerns the layoffs that GoPro has prepared for its global operations.
A total of 200 employees will be let go, and the company also wants to reduce office space in give different regions. Sales and marketing budgets will also be reduced substantially beginning with this year.
“GoPro's global distribution network has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, driving us to transition into a more efficient and profitable direct-to-consumer-centric business over the course of this year,” said Nicholas Woodman, GoPro's founder and CEO, in a typical press releasey statement.
“We are crushed that this forces us to let go of many talented members of our team, and we are forever grateful for their contributions.”
Despite the new strategy, GoPro says its product roadmap for this year won’t be affected, so we should still expect lots of news in the coming months. Among them, there’s new hardware, software, and subscription products, GoPro promises, and these will be aimed at “both GoPro camera owners and smartphone-only users.”
Additional information on the business restructuring will be shared next month when the company will share the Q1 2020 final results and provide additional guidance on the remainder of the year.