> GoPro has done a very good job finding the niche they needed to appeal to
I think they've done better than that: instead of finding a niche, they've found dozens if not hundreds of them. Each individual "extreme" sport is a tiny niche unable to support much of a video company, but by stumbling on the idea of various quality mounts and a solid (in all sense of the term), high-quality camera, gopro covers pretty much all sports at once. And from there, it spreads to every situation where a camera is "out in the open" where it might get banged up or fall.
Indeed. Take a look at Jerry Seinfeld's recent comedic short series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. GoPro's are used in the interior of the cars he drives.
I think they've done better than that: instead of finding a niche, they've found dozens if not hundreds of them. Each individual "extreme" sport is a tiny niche unable to support much of a video company, but by stumbling on the idea of various quality mounts and a solid (in all sense of the term), high-quality camera, gopro covers pretty much all sports at once. And from there, it spreads to every situation where a camera is "out in the open" where it might get banged up or fall.
That's not really a niche anymore.