{"id":16724,"date":"2016-11-17T22:34:27","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T03:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/go-pro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/"},"modified":"2016-11-18T14:40:51","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T19:40:51","slug":"gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/","title":{"rendered":"GoPro: The Defiance of the Smartphone Era"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we reflect on the technological advances that were made in the 2000\u2019s, it is safe to say that the first decade of the 21st<\/sup> century came with the demise of some industries, including the analog cameras one. First, digital cameras took over the landscape with its digitalization of images. The fast dethroning did not secure the realm for long as it transitioned very quickly into the rise of smartphones, which provided the consumer the possibility of having all-in-one products. In 2009, Apple improved its winning iPhone and released the first ever iPhone with video. At this moment, the growing digital camera industry came to a halt and quickly lost popularity. But not everyone was losing, in fact, GoPro was just starting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"camera-market\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: CIPA.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The adventurous camera giant, who was valued at ~US$3bn at its IPO[1]<\/a>, has been defying the smartphone industry ever since. Since its inception, the company\u2019s business model was purposely aimed towards a niche target market: the adventurous. Enclosed in a 2×3 inch camera, the user has access to HD Video (1080 P video at 127\u00b0 wide-angle; now 4K) and up to 12 megapixel photos[2]<\/a> that surpass the quality of any smartphone. As GoPro\u2019s name suggests, the company\u2019s value proposition is focused on delivering professional quality images for on-the-go adventure takers in a way no other camera can. As the company\u2019s first hire, Neil Dana[3]<\/a>, smartly pointed out \u201cwhen we started getting into HD that\u2019s when we realized that this could be absolutely massive.\u201d Emphasizing on technical specs, GoPro\u2019s business model offers extreme features that combined with functional add-ins the consumer is invited to explore, dare, and go further, while having it recorded on camera.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s operating model has been driven by a mixture of the old-fashioned ways and the new incoming trends. By being a camera company, GoPro heavily relies on retail sales and approaching the consumer through traditional channels. In order have a full GoPro experience, the consumer needs to purchase accessories that allow the use of the camera in extreme situations such as going under water, jumping off from a plane or heli-skiing. As part of their model, the company offers a 30-day money back guarantee to assure customer satisfaction. To maintain the value added, the company invests ~US$30 million[4]<\/a> in research and development every year to improve the amazing quality inside the tiny camera.\u00a0Now, models have integrated technological features such as auto-upload to the cloud, GPS and voice control. These advances allow the company to keep up to the tensions that the smartphone industry presents.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"capture-different\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: GoPro.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But GoPro is much more than manufacturing and selling cameras in stores, GoPro has learned to leverage the technological and socially dynamic environment in which we live nowadays. GoPro\u2019s use of social networks has been key to the company\u2019s superb operational execution. By engaging consumers in globally sharing their videos and experiences, adventurers are encouraged to record all their experiences and then present them to the world as a token of achievement. By joining the GoPro community, the customer can access a library of content and can download apps that allow saving, editing and sharing content. These actions are part of GoPro\u2019s initiatives to vertically integrate and take the experience beyond the image capturing. GoPro is changing the ways athletes do sports, pilots fly planes, travelers discover, and entertainers attract.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"app\"<\/a>Source: GoPro.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As the smartphone industry keeps growing, it will be very difficult for GoPro to keep up their competitive advantage and defend their place in the market. Smartphones will begin to integrate more features that allow their use in extreme and adventurous settings with the advantage of being an all-in-one product. This year (2016), Apple introduced the first waterproof iPhone[5]<\/a>, which is only the beginning of so many possible additions to come. GoPro\u2019s preparedness for the future is key and must be very aggressive to help the company survive. Developing hardware and software that can integrate with smartphone companies might be a way to mitigate the risk. Offering knowhow and quality, GoPro can become a provider for the all-in-one products. The camera industry has proved to be fast changing; will GoPro defy this trend? Or will the company succumb and mimic Kodak\u2019s faith into disappearance? We will learn soon rather than later.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Word Count: 757 words<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Leslie Parker, \u201cGoPro Jumps After IPO Values Camera Maker at $3 Billion\u201d Bloomberg Technology<\/em> (June 2014)<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> \u201cForm S-1 Registration Statement GOPRO, INC.\u201d (May 2014), p.11<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> \u201cGoPro Evolution from 35mm Film to America\u2019s Fastest Growing Camera Company\u201d Forbes <\/em>(2013)<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> \u201cForm S-1 Registration Statement GOPRO, INC.\u201d (May 2014), p.11<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> \u201cApple Introduces iPhone 7 & iPhone 7 Plus \u2014The Best, Most Advanced iPhone Ever\u201d Apple Newsroom<\/em> (September 2016)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After thriving in the 90\u2019s, in 2001, Kodak\u2019s sales were dropping as a symptom of the near end of the analog cameras era. That same year, Nick Woodman developed the first \u201cGoPro\u201d prototypes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2448,"featured_media":16725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[178],"class_list":["post-16724","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accelerator"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/digitization-challenge-2016\/","yoast_head":"\nGoPro: The Defiance of the Smartphone Era - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GoPro: The Defiance of the Smartphone Era - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After thriving in the 90\u2019s, in 2001, Kodak\u2019s sales were dropping as a symptom of the near end of the analog cameras era. That same year, Nick Woodman developed the first \u201cGoPro\u201d prototypes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-11-18T19:40:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/HERO5_Black_45-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"447\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"264\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\\\/\",\"name\":\"GoPro: The Defiance of the Smartphone Era - Technology and Operations Management\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/HERO5_Black_45-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-18T03:34:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-18T19:40:51+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/HERO5_Black_45-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/HERO5_Black_45-1.png\",\"width\":447,\"height\":264},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"GoPro: The Defiance of the Smartphone Era\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Technology and Operations Management\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"GoPro: The Defiance of the Smartphone Era - Technology and Operations Management","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"GoPro: The Defiance of the Smartphone Era - Technology and Operations Management","og_description":"After thriving in the 90\u2019s, in 2001, Kodak\u2019s sales were dropping as a symptom of the near end of the analog cameras era. That same year, Nick Woodman developed the first \u201cGoPro\u201d prototypes.","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/","og_site_name":"Technology and Operations Management","article_modified_time":"2016-11-18T19:40:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":447,"height":264,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/HERO5_Black_45-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/","name":"GoPro: The Defiance of the Smartphone Era - Technology and Operations Management","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/HERO5_Black_45-1.png","datePublished":"2016-11-18T03:34:27+00:00","dateModified":"2016-11-18T19:40:51+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/HERO5_Black_45-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/HERO5_Black_45-1.png","width":447,"height":264},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/gopro-the-defiance-of-the-smartphone-era\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"GoPro: The Defiance of the Smartphone Era"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/","name":"Technology and Operations Management","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/16724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2448"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/16724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}