GoPro扩张瞄准中国市场

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，可穿戴运动摄像机厂商GoPro计划扩大其分销网络、将中国市场涵盖在内，从而降低对美国市场的依赖。此前，该公司在假日期间发布的新款Hero 4运动相机取得了创纪录的销售业绩。

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.

在国际消费电子展(CES)上接受采访时，GoPro首席执行官尼克•伍德曼(Nick Woodman)表示，他还对一件事情很感兴趣，那就是看看有无可能用无人机和虚拟现实等新兴技术提高该公司紧凑结实的相机的销量。

“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：“我们针对Hero 4系列举行了公司有史以来最出色的新产品推介。我们对去年第四季度的表现非常满意。”

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.

在一个装着GoPro产品的“自拍棒”随处可见的展览中，伍德曼被站在拉斯维加斯会展中心(Las Vegas Convention Centre)该公司CES展台处的粉丝团团围住。人们对这款被伍德曼称为GoPro“明星品牌”的产品热情很高，它也因此将索尼(Sony)等竞争对手公司的运动相机甩在了身后。

“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.”

伍德曼说：“每年（在CES上），我们都会看到不同公司提供类似GoPro的产品。在很大程度上，其他所有企业都只是在生产‘硬件’——他们生产的是冷冰冰、硬邦邦的东西。他们不像我们GoPro这样，在打造一种体验或一种端对端的解决方案。”

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，这家总部驻硅谷的公司正在为其客户开发编辑及发布工具。伍德曼希望，这类工具能有助于增加分享在YouTube和Facebook等社交网络上的视频数量，从而为其品牌提供免费的营销。

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个月前筹备公开上市时，GoPro在向华尔街作推介时曾提到，该公司可能还会利用这些内容将自身打造为媒体公司。

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.

尽管广告或许可证收入仍处于“萌芽阶段”，但伍德曼称，与微软(Microsoft) Xbox和LG互联网电视机等平台达成的分销协议已经在提振相机的销售。GoPro是在本周才宣布与Xbox达成了一项新协议。

“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.”

“这有点像迪士尼(Disney)的模式，他们生产大片来销售商品、航游以及主题公园门票，”他说，“识别出这些模式中的相似之处很重要。”

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，迪士尼是一个全球知名品牌，而GoPro逾一半的销售额来自美国本土。考虑到今年全球消费电子市场预计将仅增长1%，GoPro希望拓展其国际业务。

“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.”

“人们不应认为GoPro在美国国内大获成功说明其在国际上缺少机会，”伍德曼说，“我们在国际上的渠道建设落后于在美国的，仅此而已……美国市场上容易摘的果实实在太多。”

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很可能会在2015年晚些时候将中国市场涵盖进来。他说：“一些迹象显示，我们有充分的机会在中国取得成功，我们的市场进入(go-to-market)战略在那里也应当会奏效。时间会说明一切，但我们的态度是乐观的。”

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.”

不过，伍德曼称GoPro不会匆忙进入这个全球最大的电子市场。“我们明白，带着强大的品牌展示有准备、有效率地进入比匆匆忙忙地进入更有意义，”他说，“我们宁愿慢慢来，更好地介绍我们的品牌。”

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的大厅里到处都是可穿戴式设备、虚拟现实耳机和消费者操控的无人机。伍德曼相信，随着整个行业将目光投向智能手机以外的产品，来寻找下一个重要增长点，GoPro将会从中受益。