Despite recently announcing another 270 job cuts GoPro has hit back at its critics suggesting these new changes will not affect its ability to develop and deliver new hardware. In fact, it was only last month when company CEO, Nicholas Woodman announced that the company would indeed by launching the GoPro Hero 6 this year. Which to the surprise of many goes against the companies usual every other year release schedule.
GoPro Hero 6
As for a date for the next installment in what is the companies bread-and-butter the only official information Woodman gave was there wouldn’t be the two-year wait. Frustratingly, he failed to mention when in 2017 the GoPro Hero 6 would materialize, nor did he provide and spec details.
In fact, speaking during GoPro’s financial earnings call, Woodman told a JPMorgan employee that:
“The Hero 6 and other devices would release over the next 12 months.”
“There will be new cameras and other accessories released during the year and new camera namely being Hero 6. But we’re not going to share any information as to the timing or any other details around the release of those new products as you can imagine.”
However, as the Hero 5 and Session only hit the shelves four months ago, it won’t be soon. Instead, we predict this next generation action camera will likely be announced at some point in the third-quarter of 2017. As for its release month, we wouldn’t bet our homes on it. But maybe sometime in the fourth-quarter of the year is possible, probably for the holiday period. We think there will be at least 12-months between the 5 and 6, well, that’s what would be logical.
What Will The GoPro Hero 6 Offer?
What the GoPro Hero 6 may feature in comparison to the Hero 5 is pure guess work, Woodman has revealed nothing officially. However, a few weeks ago he did mention in conversation with Engadget his desire to create a spherical 360-degree camera. Will that 360-device be the GoPro Hero 6? Who knows? But Woodman referred to it as the Ultimate GoPro”, due to it being able to create virtual reality content. And, if ever a company needed a boost in fortunes due to a product with next-gen features, it’s this one.
Moving forward, the earlier than expected release of its next action camera will likely see it fall in price. Right now the company is in consolidation mode, yes, they will still innovate. But, the need to drive down costs and increase profitability are stronger than ever.
As for features, we would like to see, how about 4K, 60fps video recording, improved battery life and sharing functionality. These are a few of the things we’d wish for, how about you?
