GoPro擴張瞄準中國市場

GoPro plans to expand its international distribution to include China this year, reducing its reliance on the US market, after a record launch for its new Hero 4 action cameras over the holiday period.

今年，可穿戴運動攝像機廠商GoPro計劃擴大其分銷網絡、將中國市場涵蓋在內，從而降低對美國市場的依賴。此前，該公司在假日期間發佈的新款Hero 4運動相機取得了創紀錄的銷售業績。

In an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show, Nick Woodman, GoPro’s chief executive, pictured right, said he was also enthusiastic about the potential for emerging technologies such as drones and virtual reality to drive more sales of its compact, robust cameras.

在國際消費電子展(CES)上接受採訪時，GoPro首席執行官尼克•伍德曼(Nick Woodman)表示，他還對一件事情很感興趣，那就是看看有無可能用無人機和虛擬現實等新興技術提高該公司緊湊結實的相機的銷量。

“We had the best new product introduction we ever had in the history of the company with the Hero 4 line,” said Mr Woodman. “We are very pleased with how the fourth quarter was going.”

伍德曼表示：“我們針對Hero 4系列舉行了公司有史以來最出色的新產品推介。我們對去年第四季度的表現非常滿意。”

At a show where GoPros on “selfie sticks” were ubiquitous, Mr Woodman was mobbed by fans at the company’s CES stand in the Las Vegas Convention Centre. That enthusiasm for what Mr Woodman calls GoPro’s “rock-star brand” has kept it ahead of rival action cameras from the likes of Sony.

在一個裝着GoPro產品的“自拍棒”隨處可見的展覽中，伍德曼被站在拉斯維加斯會展中心(Las Vegas Convention Centre)該公司CES展臺處的粉絲團團圍住。人們對這款被伍德曼稱爲GoPro“明星品牌”的產品熱情很高，它也因此將索尼(Sony)等競爭對手公司的運動相機甩在了身後。

“Every year [at CES] we see different companies with GoPro-like offerings,” he said. “Pretty much everybody else is just making hardware — they are making a cold, hard thing. They are not creating an experience or an end-to-end solution like we are at GoPro.”

伍德曼說：“每年（在CES上），我們都會看到不同公司提供類似GoPro的產品。在很大程度上，其他所有企業都只是在生產‘硬件’——他們生產的是冷冰冰、硬邦邦的東西。他們不像我們GoPro這樣，在打造一種體驗或一種端對端的解決方案。”

The Silicon Valley-based company is now working to develop its editing and distribution tools for customers, which Mr Woodman hopes will help to increase the number of videos that are shared on social networks such as YouTube and Facebook, providing free marketing for the brand.

目前，這家總部駐硅谷的公司正在爲其客戶開發編輯及發佈工具。伍德曼希望，這類工具能有助於增加分享在YouTube和Facebook等社交網絡上的視頻數量，從而爲其品牌提供免費的營銷。

Part of GoPro’s pitch to Wall Street as it prepared to go public seven months ago was that it could also use that content to become a media company itself.

7個月前籌備公開上市時，GoPro在向華爾街作推介時曾提到，該公司可能還會利用這些內容將自身打造爲媒體公司。

While the revenue from advertising or licensing remains “nascent”, Mr Woodman said distribution deals with platforms such as Microsoft’s Xbox and, through a new deal announced this week, LG’s internet-connected TV sets were already boosting camera sales.

儘管廣告或許可證收入仍處於“萌芽階段”，但伍德曼稱，與微軟(Microsoft) Xbox和LG互聯網電視機等平臺達成的分銷協議已經在提振相機的銷售。GoPro是在本週才宣佈與Xbox達成了一項新協議。

“It’s a bit like Disney’s model where they produce blockbuster movies to go sell merchandise, cruises and theme park tickets,” he said. “It’s important to recognise the similarities in those models.”

“這有點像迪士尼(Disney)的模式，他們生產大片來銷售商品、航遊以及主題公園門票，”他說，“識別出這些模式中的相似之處很重要。”

However, while Disney is a globally recognised brand, more than half of GoPro’s sales come from its home country of the US. With the global consumer electronics market forecast to grow just 1 per cent this year, GoPro is looking to expand its international footprint.

然而，迪士尼是一個全球知名品牌，而GoPro逾一半的銷售額來自美國本土。考慮到今年全球消費電子市場預計將僅增長1%，GoPro希望拓展其國際業務。

“People shouldn’t confuse the pace of the success domestically with a lack of opportunity internationally,” Mr Woodman said. “It’s just that we are behind from a channel development relative to the US . . . There’s so much low-hanging fruit there.”

“人們不應認爲GoPro在美國國內大獲成功說明其在國際上缺少機會，”伍德曼說，“我們在國際上的渠道建設落後於在美國的，僅此而已……美國市場上容易摘的果實實在太多。”

He said that was likely to include China later in 2015. “We have several indications that we have every opportunity to succeed in China, that our go-to-market strategy should work over there,” he said. “Time will tell but we are optimistic.”

他表示，GoPro很可能會在2015年晚些時候將中國市場涵蓋進來。他說：“一些跡象顯示，我們有充分的機會在中國取得成功，我們的市場進入(go-to-market)戰略在那裏也應當會奏效。時間會說明一切，但我們的態度是樂觀的。”

However, he said that GoPro would not rush into the world’s largest electronics market. “One thing that we’ve learned is it’s more important to arrive prepared and in force with a great brand presentation than to just hurry up and arrive,” he said. “We would rather take our time and introduce the brand properly.”

不過，伍德曼稱GoPro不會匆忙進入這個全球最大的電子市場。“我們明白，帶着強大的品牌展示有準備、有效率地進入比匆匆忙忙地進入更有意義，”他說，“我們寧願慢慢來，更好地介紹我們的品牌。”

With the halls of CES filled with wearable devices, virtual reality headsets and consumer-operated drones, Mr Woodman believes GoPro can benefit as the industry looks beyond the smartphone for its next big source of growth.

CES的大廳裏到處都是可穿戴式設備、虛擬現實耳機和消費者操控的無人機。伍德曼相信，隨着整個行業將目光投向智能手機以外的產品，來尋找下一個重要增長點，GoPro將會從中受益。