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GoPro is relaunching its Karma drone after an embarrassing recall

The company had to recall the product soon after its launch last fall because the drone would lose power and fall from the sky.

US-TECHNOLOGY-BUSINESS-GOPRO-ECONOMY
US-TECHNOLOGY-BUSINESS-GOPRO-ECONOMY
Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

GoPro CEO Nick Woodman says the company is planning to relaunch its Karma drone in 2017.

The foldable Karma was one of the most anticipated drones last year and was poised to rival the Mavic Pro, a foldable drone from DJI that was announced only a week after GoPro shared details about the Karma.

The GoPro drone was recalled less than a month after it was launched, following reports of dangerous malfunctions that caused it to lose power and fall from the sky.

All Karma drones were recalled and customers were issued a full refund.

Karma’s malfunction was due to a “basic battery retention issue,” according to Woodman, who spoke with reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show today. Woodman says his company will share details about the Karma relaunch in February.

At the end of November, the company announced it was cutting about 200 jobs in an attempt to reduce operating expenses. GoPro also shared that Tony Bates, the president of the sporty camera company since June 2014, would step down by the end of 2016.

GoPro isn’t profitable; its shares lost half their value in 2016. But with the layoffs and restructuring, GoPro said it expects to reduce its operating expenses to $650 million this year and hopes to return to profitability.


This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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