GoPro may be forced to shut down amid memory crisis and falling sales

GoPro has officially warned that it may not survive the next year, hiring advisers to evaluate strategic options including a potential sale or merger. Following the announcement, the company's shares dropped by approximately 14%.

The action camera maker has flagged a substantial risk that it will be unable to continue operations over the coming year, citing a prolonged drop in revenue and a breach of its credit obligations. According to Bloomberg, the announcement triggered an immediate sell-off, with the stock losing roughly 14% of its value.

GoPro's 2025 revenue came in at $651.5 million, an 18.7% decline from $801.5 million the year before. The company posted an annual operating loss of $83.3 million, while its accumulated deficit climbed past $775 million. The decline accelerated in the most recent reporting quarter, when revenue fell by roughly 26%. In an effort to slow the losses, GoPro announced in 2026 that it would cut approximately 23% of its workforce.

One of the pressures weighing on the business is the so-called memory crisis, a sharp rise in the prices of RAM chips and flash storage driven by demand from the AI industry. Bloomberg reports that memory costs have risen between 80% and 115%, directly increasing the cost of producing cameras. The same price surge has been hitting consumer electronics across the board in recent months, from smartphones to gaming consoles.

Expensive memory, however, is more of a trigger than the underlying cause of the problem. GoPro has been steadily losing market share to competitors for years. According to industry estimates, by the end of 2025, China's DJI had captured roughly two-thirds of the global action camera market by revenue, overtaking the company that effectively pioneered the segment. Analysts attribute the shift to DJI's faster product cycles, stronger low-light performance, longer battery life, and tight integration with its ecosystem of drones and gimbals.

To avoid default, GoPro has brought in advisers to assess strategic alternatives. Options under consideration include selling the business to an interested investor or merging with another company, and according to media reports, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the United States has not been ruled out. GoPro was founded in 2002 by Nick Woodman, and for years the brand was effectively synonymous with the action camera category itself.