GoPro to launch Karma drone in Q4 2016

While GoPro has not revealed much information about its upcoming drone, called Karma, the company did say that we can expect to see it in stores this year. Question is, when?

If we are to go by its latest earnings report, GoPro is not in its best possible financial shape. For the first quarter of this year it just posted $183.53 million in revenue, down by 49.5 percent year-over-year, but also $107.45 million in net income losses, down by $741.5 percent year-over-year. This affects Karma's release date, but it should still make its public debut by the end of 2016, GoPro says.

GoPro founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman has revealed that Karma will launch this holiday season, though its release date has actually been pushed back. This means that it should be on store shelves in Q4, hopefully around Thanksgiving if GoPro wants a boost in its earnings that quarter.

GoPro has a 20.9 percent share of the US digital camera/camcorder market, according to NPD, and a 10.5 percent share of Europe's digital imaging market, according to GfK, but it will be a new player in the drone market, as Karma is its first product in this segment.

The company stands to benefit from its experience building action cameras, with Hero products said to be compatible with the drone, but fact of the matter is there are lots of players in this segment, like DJI, which have much more mature products on offer. We'll have to see whether Karma will match its rivals later this year, when it finally launches.