With the decision of the American camcorder company GoPro Inc., based in San Mateo, California, to defer the release date of GoPro Hero 5 from October this year to next year, it becomes clear that the company won’t have a new product to capitalize on the holiday rush.
The company has released the GoPro Hero LCD in June before launching the GoPro Hero 4 Session in July.
According to the Vine Report, the postponement of the launching of GoPro Hero 5 means that the company will not have a new camera for the holiday season. Many believe that this will cause a major drop in the company’s sales for the fourth quarter this year compared to last year.
Since last month, the stock of GoPro has dropped after news came out that the launching of the Hero 5 will be pushed back. However, there are signs lately that the stock price of the company is now on its recovery phase.
It has been said that the main cause for the decline in the stock price of GoPro is the setback in the Chinese market, which is part of its top 10 revenue contributors.
Smaller and lighter
GoPro has yet to come out with a specific release date for the Hero 5 but it is likely that the rumors about the device coming out with a size that is 50% smaller and 40% lighter than its predecessor appear to be true considering the dimension of the GoPro Hero Session 4 when it came out in July, notes the Gospel Herald.
There have been speculations over the past few weeks that in addition to its superb features and capabilities, the GoPro Hero 5, will come out cheaper than its predecessor, the Hero 4, when it finally hits the market in 2016.
This is obviously one of the most ironic hype for the upcoming action camera, perhaps not of the company’s doing but likely its fans.
Logic dictates that once new and modern technologies are incorporated into a device, it follows that it comes with added cost. So it would be a losing proposition for GoPro to incorporate pricey modern features to its latest camera if it would price it lower than its predecessor. It would not simply make good business sense at all.
The more palatable notion is that GoPro Hero 5 may come out with a price that shall approximate that of the GoPro Hero 4, which is meant more as a business or pricing strategy.
This seems to be what GoPro is aiming as latest reports now indicate that the Hero 5 will have a price of $550 when it comes out by next year, contrary to rumors that it shall be priced $450. The GoPro Hero 4 is currently being retailed for around $500.
Superior underwater capabilities
All GoPro action cameras are waterproof and most of them, particularly the current models, can shoot and record underwater videos but most of them like the GoPro Hero 4 need to take on a different housing to have a better depth rating.
Each of the GoPro Hero 4 cameras come with the standard housing that is capable of withstanding depths of up to 131 feet or 40 meters. The underwater depth rating increases to 197 feet or 60 meters if the so-called dive housing using is used.
The GoPro Hero 5 will apparently come ready to shoot and record underwater up to 60 meters depth which only means that it will be using a dive housing instead of the standard housing that other GoPro action cameras come out with out of the box.
It is possible that GoPro Hero 5 will have an option for an even better underwater shooting and recording capability to distinguish it among all the other GoPro action cameras and make it a cut about the rest.