Contour, iON Join Forces To Challenge GoPro

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A lot of technology companies from Sony to HTC to Garmin to TomTom have entered the action camera market in the past few months. But GoPro remains the dominant player by a distance. Now point-of-view camera maker Contour has announced its merger with iON Cameras to compete GoPro. In 2013, Utah-based Contour had briefly gone out of business.

The merged company to give GoPro a run for its money?

Contour returned to the market last year with a new lineup of action cameras. GoPro was hailed as a dominant force in the segment when Contour shut down its operations because it was once considered an equal to GoPro. The combined iON Contour will have a distribution network of more than 10,000 stores across 40 countries. Together they will be in a better position to give the San Mateo-based company a run for its money.

iON Cameras launched its first iON Air Pro Sports in 2012. The company has since expanded its offering to lifelogging wearable cameras, and Dropcam competitors. Under the terms of the merger, both iON and Contour brands will co-exist to offer a wide range of connected and wearable action cameras. Contour will focus on high-end camera markets, while iON will target the budget customers.

Their offerings go beyond action cameras

The newly formed entity will invest heavily in developing camera hardware and software to let people capture, edit, share, and live stream, and store videos and photos in the cloud. The companies said iON CEO Giovanni Tomaselli will be the chief executive of the merged company. Contour’s current CEO James Harrison will take the role of president.

Contour also boasts of a solid patent portfolio that includes features such as GPS, wireless connectivity, and instant-on capability. Even though the two companies say they aim to challenge GoPro, their product line expands well beyond action cameras. The combined company’s offerings include dash cams, home security cameras, tactical and police cameras, and wearable lifestyle cameras.

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