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Xiaomi considering buying struggling GoPro
June 13, 2025
In the 15 yearsGoProhas been around, its financial standing has been as wild of a ride as the action videos filmed using its equipment. In 2014, when the company first went public, it was valued at about $3 billion.
Now, with increased competition from lower-priced manufacturers and customers’ reluctance to upgrade their GoPro devices, GoPro is valued at about $700 million. In other words, it’s been a rough four years.
At this point, the only real option to keep the GoPro brand alive is to sell the company to a larger company and use the larger company’s resources to innovate. Sources report,viaThe Information, that Chinese smartphone manufacturerXiaomibuying GoPro is an idea that’s on the table.
Xiaomi buying GoPro would provide one significant advantage: retail space in American stores. GoPro has deals with major electronics sellers such as Best Buy which put GoPro products in prominent locations on sales floors. If Xiaomi owned GoPro, it would be a backdoor way to feature Xiaomi merchandise to American buyers, something the company has been trying to dofor some time now.
However, the risk-reward ratio of a GoPro purchase might be too much for Xiaomi (or any buyer, really). Since GoPro’s stock price is going down the tubes and the company shows no signs of turning the drop around, spending a bunch of cash up-front might simply not be worth it to Xiaomi.
Chinese drone-makerDJIexpressed interest in buying GoPro but dropped out for that very reason. According toThe Information, DJI saw “no value” in GoPro. Ouch.
Speaking of drones, GoPro actually started a drone arm of the business in 2016, releasing its first quadcopter called Karma. At the beginning of this year, Karma was discontinued, and the drone arm dismantled, furthering GoPro’s reputation as a sinking ship.
There’s also the problem of litigation: GoPro is in a two-year-long legal battle with rival Contour over alleged patent infringement. Any company that buys GoPro would have to take on that burden as well.
Ultimately, GoPro’s future rests on the charity of a larger company. to survive, GoPro will have to hide under the umbrella of another company’s success until it can create a product that’s in-demand and more lucrative than the action camera business. Will that umbrella company be Xiaomi? Time will tell.
NEXT:Xiaomi Black Shark is official: Here’s what’s up with Xiaomi’s first gaming phone
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