* North Jersey supplier looking for right fit
Sometimes building a 'better mousetrap' is not the trick to getting the world's attention.
Creating accessories that work with popular products can be a way to build a business - but competition may be fierce.
GoPro shock- and water-resistant cameras are trendy devices for capturing the action up close in sports, and the company's rapid growth - it reported $280 million in revenue for its most recent quarter - has spawned a number of companies offering add-on equipment.
One of the many businesses competing in this market is GoPole in Pompton Plains. The company makes extension poles and mounts for the cameras, letting users capture angles not possible when held by hand or even attached directly to helmets. 'It allows them to get a whole new perspective,' said co-founder Ryan Vosburg.
He and the other co-founders of GoPole, all lovers of snow sports and friends since high school in Vernon, were early adopters of GoPro products. They thought up an idea to mount the cameras on poles, which Vosburg said is now common at tourist locations, with action sports, and for taking 'selfie' photos. GoPole's users, he said, might use his company's attachment to get new viewpoints when diving in shark cages or hiking to the tops of mountains.
Founded in 2010, GoPole accessories are designed specifically to work with GoPro brand cameras, Vosburg said, and a plethora of rivals are pursuing the same market. 'You get a lot of brands who came on way later in the picture,' he said.
Competitors, such as Delkin Devices and Rhino Camera Gear, make other types of camera accessories (for example, suction cup mounts) that GoPole does not. A menagerie of companies, including GoPro, makes harnesses, clips and even aerial drones for mounting the cameras on. There is also a do-it-yourself market, Vosburg said, for rigging up accessories for the cameras.
He believes the market is young for GoPro accessories, with more yet to come. 'It's similar to what happened when the iPhone started,' Vosburg said. 'In 2007, there was no accessory market.'
GoPole's products include the Reach, which telescopes from 14 to 40 inches, and the Evo, an extension pole that can float on water. Evo and Reach include a remote Wi-Fi control for turning the cameras on and off. GoPole sells its products online, has distribution in 50 countries, and is available through domestic retailers such as Target. Vosburg said Best Buy recently started carrying some of its wares. 'It's our first holiday season in the big-box consumer electronics market,' he said.
Being a third-party maker of accessories for popular products, though, is not necessarily easy money. 'The biggest challenge when you're building an attachment for someone else's product, you don't know what you're shipping next year,' said Jeff Glasse, CEO of Kogeto in New York City.
His company makes an add-on lens, called the Dot, for iPhones' cameras, which let users capture 360-degree, panoramic video. Though Apple is amenable to accessories being made for its devices, Glasse said the company does not give third-party vendors early looks. He must wait just like everyone else to get his hands on the latest iPhones, and then he finds out if he must rework his devices to fit the smartphone. 'You're at the behest of a much larger party, who would like you to be successful but isn't going to do anything to help you be successful,' he said.
Flawed expectations can also cloud the accessories market, Glasse said. 'Everybody has the same equation in their head: 'If I can get 1 percent of $100 million, that's $20 million in revenue,' ' he said. Popular devices may get a third-party accessory some attention, but it can come at a cost. Selling accessories through the Apple Store, Glasse said, means giving Apple a substantial cut. 'The margins are thin, the competition is fierce,' he said.
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