GoPro reviews sale or merger options amid action-camera market pressure

GoPro has put its future on the table, authorizing a strategic review that could lead to a sale or merger at a time when the once-dominant action-camera category is under heavy pressure from smartphones, DJI and Insta360. For photographers and video creators, the question is not just who might buy GoPro, but what a deal would mean for the company’s next cameras, its app and cloud services, accessory ecosystem, and the brand that helped define POV shooting.

The San Mateo, California company said its board hired a financial advisor to evaluate alternatives aimed at maximizing shareholder value. GoPro said no decision has been made and there is no fixed timetable, but the wording marks a major shift for a business that has spent years trying to stabilize itself in a market that has changed around it. Its latest first-quarter revenue was $99 million, with subscription and service revenue of $27 million, and GoPro said that result came in within guidance.

The numbers show how much the ground has moved. In March 2025, GoPro said 2024 revenue totaled $801 million, while subscription and service revenue reached $107 million, up 10% from a year earlier. The company had already said it was working toward a return to growth and profitability in 2026. Its 2024 annual report was blunt about the broader imaging market, saying smartphones and tablets with photo and video functionality have significantly displaced traditional camera sales. GoPro’s stock, which began public trading on June 26, 2014 at $24.00 a share, was around $1.32 on May 12, 2026, a sharp reminder of how far expectations have fallen.

The review followed GoPro’s April 13, 2026 engagement of Oliver Wyman to support expansion into defense and aerospace markets. After that move, the company said it received several unsolicited inbound strategic inquiries, which appears to have widened the conversation beyond consumer cameras alone. Founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman has said GoPro has built significant technology, intellectual property, brand assets and manufacturing capabilities over 24 years, and that the company is open to opportunities across sectors.

That broader reach matters because GoPro is still more than a niche gadget maker. The company said in 2024 that it had surpassed 50 million cameras sold since the launch of the HD HERO in 2009. In 2026, it was still pushing the brand forward with the MISSION 1 camera line, NAB Show award wins, a GameChanger partnership and cameras used on NASA’s Artemis II mission. A sale or merger could decide whether that momentum turns into a sharper product roadmap, a stronger software push, or a new role inside a larger imaging or defense-focused business.