GoPro is quitting the drone business and will be slashing about 20% of its staff. The founders are reportedly exploring a possible sale of its business after low demand for its products. The company had about 1,254 employees as of Sept 30, but it’s now cutting that down to less than 1,000. Nicholas Woodman, the founder, and CEO of the company is also cutting his annual salary to $1.

The challenges facing the company started a while ago. In late 2016, the company unveiled its Karma drone at $800, but the product came out a little expensive and less competitive compared to their competition. All the Karma drone units were recalled later that year after a flaw that repeatedly caused power failure on the drone. The company’s products received a rising number of negative reviews thereafter which led to a loss of about $373 million. GoPro subsequently laid off 200 employees in November 2016.

The company cites unfavorable regulatory environment in the United States and Europe, as well as extreme competition in the drone business as their main reason why they are unable to remain in the drone business. The company however mentioned that it will quit the drones business after selling off its remaining inventory, but it will continue providing support to all if its existing customers.

The CEO reported that the amount of investment relative to profit margins in the drone industry has made it extremely difficult to run a sound business investment for them. In their earnings report, GoPro had garnered approximately $340 million in Q4. Compared to $540 million in Q4 of 2016, that’s a significant drop, and even much lower than its disappointing pre-holiday season prediction of $470 million.

2017’s fourth quarter review also represents GoPro’s worst holiday season financial performance since it was launched in 2014. The company has announced a price cut on its Hero 6 Black camera in an effort to promote sales. It will now retail at $399, from $499.

The company also revealed that the chief operating officer Prober Charles and the senior vice president, Sharon Zezima will be leaving the company by March this year. The company also plans to spend between $22 million and $33 million on restructuring as well as severance. Woodman mentioned that the company is aiming at becoming profitable by the third quarter of 2018. They plan to leverage a new software and hardware roadmap as well as lower operating costs to achieve this.

Meanwhile, GoPro shares fell by 33% to $5.04, which is an all-time low. But this isn’t surprising because the shares had already lost about 13% in the course of 2017. As things stand, the company might regain profitability later this year, but their days of “flying high” are clearly over.

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