San Mateo-Based GoPro Reportedly Developing Its Own Line Of Consumer Drones
SAN MATEO (KCBS) – GoPro, a San Mateo company with a core business of making wearable video cameras, is now looking to develop a line of consumer drones.
The Wall Street Journal cites people familiar with the company's plans and reports, GoPro will start selling multi-rotor helicopters equipped with high-definition cameras by late 2015, at a price tag of between $500 and $1,000.
GoPro has already been involved in the drone market, providing many of the small cameras that consumer drones carry.
The Wall Street Journal said the move by GoPro further exemplifies the growing mainstream nature of the drone industry. Consumers continue to flock to the unmanned aircraft, even though federal officials are still trying to figure out how to regulate the industry and use of consumer drones. In fact, they are expected to be a hot seller this holiday season.
GoPro went public on Nasdaq in June and shares are up 138 percent since that time. Sales of its cameras, which sell for between $200 and $500, have outpaced last year. Through the first nine months of 2014, GoPro sales are at $763 million, compared with $624 million over the same period in 2013.
