The Reason the Karma is delayed worldwide

[CAPTAINDRONE]

Having a look around the internet it appears the answers to the GoPro Karma disaster of a launch can be found in the business headlines.

It seems that GoPro ran into big money problems last year with supply chain management. They built more products than there was a demand for at a cost that can no longer be recovered. The cost of warehousing and inventory was in the millions.

The GoPro Karma was purposely given a slow start because GoPro only created a small number so that they could ensure they had a better grip on the demand. The last thing that wanted was to make thousands and find that they were not selling, so they are starting out slow. This is also why they are selling the Hero 4 with the new Karma, so that they can get rid of all the Hero 4's in inventory without losing too much money.

It will probably take one to two months to begin to ramp up production to just start to meet demand fully in the US (i.e. retail stores and direct buys), and then it will take another few months to begin to meet the demand worldwide.

Based on supply chain management, I would predict the following...

if you're in the US, you'll probably have a GoPro Karma & Grip & Hero 5 before Christmas (if you order one prior to December 1st). If you live outside the US, you'll most likely be able to order before Christmas but not everyone will get one before or on Christmas.... January/February are more likely.

And finally.... It would seem the reason GoPro has remained quiet is because the GoPro stock is not doing so well currently. GoPro has to release their numbers for the previous quarter soon (those numbers should be fine), and a forecast for the next quarter. In that forecast they'll have to make a positive statement to investors and it should give us some insight into how they are handling the supply chain issue.

Here is one of many articles on the topic:

Mission Impossible: GoPro Going Blind Into Building Out Karma Inventory -- The Motley Fool

 

[Fisheye]

Thanks for that

I actually received a response from GoPro overnight, which confirmed they had underestimated the demand, which has obviously affected the release in the US, and the (non) release in Europe.

Fair enough, I suppose, but I still think a company the size of GoPro should have a better idea of demand, instead they just seem to have taken a punt on it, and been miles off the mark.

With Christmas just around the corner, they must be missing out on tens (if not hundreds) of millions of dollars of sales.

Still smacks of amateurism to me

 

[Topher]

Apparently DJI and GoPro have learned the lesson that 3DR learned the hard way. Wait to see demand before producing drones that depreciate (can't sell for new) to less than their production cost in one year. GoPro learned this with their last GoPro too. Not that I think they couldn't have produced more than they actually did at this point!