GoPro, Inc. said it planned to lay off 7 percent of its workforce after reporting fourth-quarter sales that were significantly below guidance. GoPro expects revenue to be approximately $435 million for the fourth quarter of 2015, while Wall Street’s average target for sales was $521 million and GoPro’s guidance ranged from $500 million to $550 million.
Of course, GoPro is not the only consumer electronics company, and action cameras are not the only consumer electronics category, experiencing slower sales. A study from Accenture’s Electronics and High Tech group suggests a cooling CE market across the board.
For instance, only 13 percent of respondents said they plan to purchase a smartwatch in the next year, up only 1 percentage point from last year. Less than half (48 percent) of respondents said they intend to buy a smartphone this year, down six points from the 54 percent who said they planned to buy one last year. And the number of people who said they plan to buy a tablet PC this year – 29 percent – also dropped from 38 percent last year.
The survey also found similar stagnation in demand for a range of newer categories, including fitness monitors, wearable health devices, smart thermostats and connected home-surveillance cameras – with each only cited as a planned purchase by 9 percent of respondents, about the same percentage as last year.
“The slowdown in the consumer technology market is irrefutable, serious and global,” said Sami Luukkonen, global managing director for Accenture’s Electronics and High Tech group. “The market is not about the glitzy gadgets anymore – rather, it’s about providing secure, innovative and practical digital services and more open collaboration. As device demand tapers off, the industry needs to make a sharp turn toward providing innovative, value-added services that consumers are able to use with confidence.”
