Just because two "analysts" say that in their opinion GoPro "fits Apple like a glove"? Weak rumor...
Gopro has had much trouble in producing profits inspite of a good turnover.........while the video sports camera market provides technical upgrades from lower definition through HD to now 4K it also produces customers who will upgrade, but what will happen when the Gopro's spec plateaus at 4K?..............Very easy to emulate cheap Chinese versions!
The company are investing in drones well before the world has a policy/legal stance on these things, there are many countries legislating against them........ RC.Model Reviews is saying New Zealand has introduced bans and this is being discussed elsewhere.....at the stroke of a few pens the market could be dead!
Just saying...............
Honestly I think that it would make more sense for them to acquire Leica.
The design philosophy is pretty much identical and ... the price level is similar ;-)
But I would be surprised if Apple invested into a collapsing market.
I still think that it would make perfect sense for them to add a system mount to an iphone (a special version).
That would kill the rest of the mirrorless market pretty much instantly. Can't be that difficult really.
There was once a prototype of a Leica designed by Jon Ives. Also, Leica collaborates with Panasonic already which is no cheap brand in the PC market. A lot of "Toughbooks", ruggedized laptops, comes from them as well as some pretty good bridge cameras. As for the price: Apple still maintains a level of usability before others get it. Sure, they're bleeding money. But the point is: Which manufacturer won't like to see himself in the position of Apple and do exactly the same? Prices up, service between not too bad and really great - I am an Apple customer, sometimes disappointed and other times quite surprised by a generous solution. I think, not many people would buy an Apple at half the price, suspecting there's something spooky with it.
Collapsing market? It would explode, if Apple jumps in with a cool product. Trouble is, consumers like us don't want so much more functions. Reading feature lists from higher grade bridge cameras, compact or mirrorless give me headaches. It's not "bring more features in" it's "use these things with less obstacles". Apple always shone when it came to usability. They took a normal concept idea like a tablet, an all-in-one PC, a mobile phone and made something out of it easy to use, expensive, but affordable and - sustainable. I'm typing this on a 6 year old iMac, still able to cope with 40 MB raws or 200 MB tiffs. Over the years the price got from expensive to reasonable. Something I'd like to see more of that in the camera market.
I really don't get this one. With the amount of cash Apple has in the bank they can pretty much do anything, and I'm struggling to see the value in GoPro and how it would fit into Apple.
Apple-Leica I don't think is a match either, more in interface terms.
And I can't see Apple killing mirrorless in any meaningful way. Would they really make it so much better than what's available that everyone dumps what they have and buys in? Not a chance. Before someone pops up with something to the effect of "more photos are taken on iphones than any other device", it will come down to usage expectations and I can't see them fiddling around in higher end imaging as it would be insignificant for them to even try. It would be too niche.
<a class="bbc_url" href="http://snowporing.deviantart.com/">dA</a> Canon 7D2, 7D, 5D2, 600D, 450D, 300D IR modified, 1D, EF-S 10-18, 15-85, EF 35/2, 85/1.8, 135/2, 70-300L, 100-400L, MP-E65, Zeiss 2/50, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300/2.8, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Olympus E-P1, Panasonic 20/1.7, Sony HX9V, Fuji X100.
