Yes, in a nutshell. The Karma did not suck were it not for the rushed "coincidental" appearance of the Mavic. The Karma would have been a huge commercial success, it was on its path to greatness. Blindsided by DJI, whos predatory and evident business practices were aimed at nothing but to kill the Karma. Business is business I guess. But there are ways to do business other than the way DJI did it.
It wasn't DJI who killed the Karma. It wasn't the Mavic. Basically GoPro released a flawed, faulty, unreliable, unusable, DANGEROUS drone to start with. And that's it. They had to call it back and end it right then and there. Path to greatness? It was a massive **** up from start to end. Period. You can spin this any way you want, and I'm not saying DJI was open and ethic in the way they released the MP, but that's up to the customer to judge. And in the end the Mavic delivered. Looking back, objectively, one things is clear: pilots who spent money on the GoPro drone ended up making a much worse deal than pilots who had to wait to get their Mavic's, all things considered. That's for sure.
Again you are correct. Many people invested in a Mavic expecting to receive it in a week and then got nothing, including no interest on their money, for as much as 6 months. Dodgy business practice? Im 100% sure of that.
Were you one of the people who gave DJI their money and then got nothing for months? Thousands of people did, and gave up on the Karma because of DJIs promise of shipping within 1 week. Rushed to market, not ready for distribution, just so they could outsell GoPro. People dont forget things like that. But if you werent there, you wouldnt know how it felt.
I waited a bit, happily flying my old and trusty P3P watching the debacle and hysteria go by. I'm a grown up. I knew the Mavic would be worth all that hassle, based on my experience with DJI since the FC40. And I was right, because it was groundbreaking. OK some kids cried in despair for not getting their new drone right away. So what. I'm sure everyone survived fine. Once everyone got their Mavic everything was fine, for that meant the end of the nightmare (and unbearable suffering for the kids LOL) whereas getting your Karma was the start of it. LOL.
So yes DJI was a victim of the MP success and also paid for their way of doing business. That's DJI, love it and take it as it is, or hate it and fly a worse drone. Or assemble your own and stop whining. The film was ugly, but the last impression is the lasting impression and the Mavic Pro delivered in spades. It was the one and only time DJI screwed up like that anyway. I'm not excusing them, I'm just very happy whenever I'm flying one of their drones and that's the bottom line to me.
Facts are not based on opinion. Go Pro is on track to have a record year, based on its first quarter performance. What does "GoPro cant" even mean? They always have, currently are, and will continue to do so. They have a loyal customer base.
I don't own GoPro stock so I don't care. But I do care where I spend my money, and GoPro isn't getting any from me because basically I can get a better, smaller, more advanced and modern and lighter action camera with stabilised image and loads more functionality for that same money. Saying GoPro lives on thanks to loyal customers is akin to saying GoPro is living on the past, hanging on thanks to convenience and comfort of a rather restrict client base that can change at the snap of a finger. We've seen that countless times already. That's not how a tech company survives these days, but what do I know and we'll see where that takes them eh?
Hmmm, they have been the leader and have dominated the market in action cams for, hmmm, what, 15 years? GoPro has now pared their company down to a profit making, innovative, investor loving size. Projections are incredible for this year. DJI, on the other hand, is coming off an enormous fraud that could very possibly have wiped out all its working capital. R and D costs need working capital to function. Instead of worrying yourself over GoPros future, maybe leave yourself some worry for DJI's future.
That's a romantic way to say that a tech company shrunk down thanks to lack of real innovation and some really bad moves. Fine, I'm not saying that's bad but GoPro is public and I'm sure the investors and shareholders would love it was the other way instead.
The action camera market is saturated, so much so everyone here is discussing why DJI even bother releasing something like this Osmo Action. Maybe they know something we don't. There are buckets of chinese Hero knock-offs offering the same functionality for half the price anyway. What's the future in that I wonder, but again what do I know.
The Hero7 is basically an updated Hero3. Nobody is doing anything new with it for a long time. Nothing that wasn't being done in 2009 already, or even before. You still have to point it, it still won't shoot acceptable low light stabilised videos, you still can't see what's being filmed until you come back home and DL the footage. Of course there's still market for something like that. After all it's a good, reliable, rugged action camera, with loads of great accessories. But it's been since almost the start almost 20 yrs ago. I love mine, but honestly don't feel the least bit inclined to buy a new Hero, not with all the options available out there.
Peace!
