CEO Nick Woodman Says GoPro Is Refocusing On What Made It Successful In The Past

GoPro Inc GPRO soared more than 15 percent Thursday after the company said it will lower its headcount by around 270 jobs to reduce expenses. Speaking to CNBC, GoPro CEO Nick Woodman explained the company's game-plan moving forward.

Woodman said the company has strayed away from its core product and client base which is the individual consumer buying a camera to capture and share their experiences, although some Wall Street analysts aren't convinced.

"In the quarters after going public we were making different investments, placing different bets," Woodman said. "Some of those bets didn't work out and we are re-focusing on building upon what made GoPro so successful in the first place - and that is serving our customer and focusing investments on that and nothing else."

When asked to clarify if this means GoPro will not pursue a media strategy, Woodman said he's focused on hardware and software with the purpose of capturing and sharing photos and videos. He did add that GoPro will make the smartphone front and center in the overall GoPro experience as content from the camera will be easily accessible on a phone.

He cited the fact that people continue sharing content online at a growing rate each year and naturally this trend bodes well for GoPro's revised focus.

"We failed to make GoPro contemporary and failed to align GoPro with the smartphone movement," Woodman acknowledged, while promising that "it will become less of a question of should I use a GoPro or my smartphone and more about using a GoPro with a smartphone."

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