GoPro recalls Karma drones due to power failure issues

1. What is Karma?

Karma drone looks luxurious in white and black

GoPro is an American technology company, which was founded by Nick Woodman in 2002, manufactures eponymous action cameras and develops its mobile apps and video-editing software. The Karma drone was the very first drone made by GoPro. It costs about 800 dollars. Karma is a white and black quadcopter that folds and can fit into a pack. It's meant to film stunning aerial scene from a mounted GoPro camera, which is sold singly.

When GoPro launched Karma drone earlier this year, it seemed like the great fit. The company was founded on action cameras, but since 2014 it had seen sales of its flagship Hero line sink. Over the same time period, the sale of the camera drones to consumers had exploded. By bundling camera with a drone, GoPro can breathe new life into a flagging product line.

The Karma is a great value. One Karma drone is priced at $799 without a camera, it is a solid buy for those who already have a Hero 4 camera. Also, it’s available for $999 and $1099 if bundled with Hero 4 Black or Hero 5 camera. At these price points, the Karma competes with the DJI Phantom 4 and the DJI Phantom 3 Advanced especially when the bundled accessories are taken into account.

2. Why is Karma drone recalled?

GoPro is recalling all the Karma drone, even yours is working as expected

GoPro drone reviews are all good. However, it looks like Karma shoppers won't be holding on to their drones any more. GoPro has made an announcement that Karma drone will be recalled, includes 2,500 Karma models which were sold since Oct. 23. This is the latest bad news for some innovative camera companies, which recently saw its stock drop twenty percents because of shocking sales figures.

"In a very small number of cases, Karma units lost pogwer during operation. No related injuries or property damage have been reported," the GoPro Karma company said in a statement. GoPro said that they’re coordinating with Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which controls drone usage in the United States. "Safety is our top priority," Nicholas Woodman - GoPro CEO - said in the statement.

3. GoPro is still learning, while the competition has grown up

GoPro is already on shaky ground with investors and it was poorly positioned to handle the similar shocks. GoPro made a mistake of trying to launch one thing without extensive field testing of a beta product first. Colin Snow, who is CEO of Skylogic Research, said  that GoPro’s problem is it is still leaning while the "It’s the kind of thing that happens with your first generation of drone. The problem for GoPro is, they are still learning, while the race is started.

GoPro had waited until the world took the attention for the presidential election to issue a recall for all Karma units that it had sold so far. It left open the possibility that GoPro drone would come back with drones for sale, once the trouble had been identified and resolved, but industry analysts were pessimistic. This failure, along with the rest downfall of 3D Robotics consumer drone business, showed that American startups are struggling to keep pace with Chinese rivals. "It knocks the US out of the market," Snow said. "Engineering in the US, forget about it. We’ll have to stick to software."