Hacker News Reader

Comment by throwy67i4 | Hacker News Reader

Does GoPro actually do their own development?

I remember reading an article when they were starting up, snd the founder basically went to some expo in a China and purchased OEM devices and slapped his brand on there.

Edit: This isn’t the article but it sheds some more light.

> Once he had the strap sorted out, Woodman would need a camera to go with it. He eventually found a 35-millimeter model made in China. Woodman made an old-school prototype using a Dremel tool, plastic blocks, and glue. He mailed it to China, wired $5,000 to get started, and in September 2004 GoPro made its first sale when a Japanese distributor ordered 100 units after seeing the product at a trade show.

https://www.maxim.com/gear/gopro-founder-nick-woodman-profil...

View on HN

There are an infinite number of shades of grey between “slap brand on an OEM product” and “the full Apple”. Companies often shift their approach (in both directions!) over time, and it will vary for different product lines.

And "the full Apple" is still someone else makes the product (Apple purchases iPhones from Foxconn):

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/technology/iphone-china-a...

> Apple purchases iPhones from Foxconn

It sounds like you think that Foxconn develop a new iPhone then Apple turn up to buy them like a consumer!

Foxconn manufacture iPhones under a precise contract with Apple, who do the design and plan how they should be built. Apple don’t just purchase them off the shelf.

Yes but Apple also finances the factories and is deeply embedded. The system might just be the most advanced integrated supply chain on the planet.

Sure, but plenty of companies actually assemble their own products (like say Samsung).

Samsung is not just samsung. Samsung is actually many companies working under the same brand and corporate culture.

You cant talk about samsung as a single company.

You're making a pretty pointless distinction though.

Apple tells Foxconn how, what, when etc to assemble often using equipment that Apple owns. So the only thing Samsung has over Apple is that they employ those people. And what value is that adding ?

I was in Shenzhen last week, there are stores where you can go up, pick some battery pack or other widget, buy 1k units, and then have them slap your logo on it. That’s one end of the spectrum. The other is you find a Contract Manufacturer and give them your exact specs. But then of course what tends to happen is that other factories conveniently get your specs after awhile.

Apple purchases labor from Foxconn

They do.

I am not sure that question required a throwaway account.

Sure? Privately Aricent used to claim they did a bunch of their R&D

GoPro does develop its mobile apps, camera software and hardware, and cloud offerings. You can get a flavor for what the company is working on here: https://gopro.com/careers/jobs

More to that story, the original analog GoPros and later digital ones are very different designs. Their first digital version definitely was an OEM product.

We hired a bunch of GoPro hardware engineers at castAR. They were all good engineers.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com