recall of $799 GoPro karma drone after randomly losing power duing operation

As most of the world focuses on the US presidential election tonight, GoPro just announced a recall of its first-ever drone, the $799 Karma. Approximately 2,500 Karma units sold since October 23rd (meaning all of them) are impacted. GoPro says “in a very small number of cases, Karma units lost power during operation.” Thus far, there have been no reports of injuries or property damage because of the defect.

Recalled Karma drones can be returned to GoPro directly or wherever they were purchased originally for a full refund. For now, the company won’t be offering any exchanges for a fixed model; you’ll have to wait until shipments resume “as soon as the issue is resolved.”

GoPro executives addressed production issues surrounding the Karma during last week’s earnings call, but didn’t mention any plans for a recall or the power issue at the time. “We are working in close coordination with both the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Federal Aviation Administration,” said CEO Nick Woodman in a statement from tonight’s press release. “We are very sorry to have inconvenienced our customers and we are taking every step to make the return and refund process as easy as possible.”

The recall is a significant setback for GoPro as it attempts to challenge leader DJI in the drone business, and it follows a bruising financial quarter for the action cam maker.