Ailing former action camera heavyweight GoPro hopes to solve at least part of its financial woes by licensing its technology to Jabil, a manufacturing and engineering services provider.

The global multi-year deal allows Jabil to put GoPro lenses and sensors in 3rd party, non-GoPro-branded devices, a first for the company. Jabil has been working with GoPro since 2014, when it started manufacturing the Hero4 camera. It is a big manufacturing firm, with 90 facilities across 23 countries.

"This agreement is a natural extension of our long-standing relationship with GoPro and our commitment to developing innovative technologies," Jabil' says. "Early market feedback indicates strong demand in the enterprise action camera segment for applications in smart homes, military, fire, police, rescue, and security."

GoPro has had something of a bad 2017-- revenues failed to soar following the September 2016 launch of its first and last drone, the Karma. The drone was unfavourably compared to rivals from the likes of DJI by the specialist press, and a power failure issue lead to a mass recall further damaging its reputation. In the meantime new products such as the Hero5 failed to spark action camera sales growth.

Will a licensing deal help GoPro stay afloat? It depends on how Jabil will use the technology, which can find use in any number of applications, including video conferencing solutions, robotics and self-driving automobiles.

Go GoPro and Jabil Sign Global Tech and Equipment Licensing Deal