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GoPro's focus after IPO excitement fades

The evolution of GoPro
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The evolution of GoPro

With GoPro's IPO set for this week, analysts say investing in the action camera maker doesn't just mean investing in hardware: Software, services and the company's overall brand identity could be even more important for the company's growth as a public entity.

Amid expectations of double-digit growth in the point-of-view camcorder market, GoPro plans to deliver seamless editing and sharing tools along with its new cameras, according to IDC research analyst Christopher Chute.

Watch: GoPro's push to be a media company

GoPro also has been producing and making money on its own content and has partnered with the likes of Red Bull and snowboarder Shaun White to deliver original videos, started up a GoPro Xbox channel and announced plans to integrate its cameras into BMW's in-car infotainment systems.

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GoPro is valued at about $1 billion, and that indicates that the company's pool of competitors is likely to grow, according to Katherine Barr, general partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology companies.

Sony has been trying to compete with GoPro with its own point-of-view action cameras, and smaller firms have tossed their hats in the ring with cameras such as those made by Bullet HD and Centr Camera, which makes a camera that captures a 360-degree view.

Watch: Ahead of the IPO, here's what's inside a GoPro

"It's a large market. However, I think it will be hard for any company to displace the broadly recognized brand that GoPro has become—unless the quality of their products suffers or they mis-execute in the business somehow," Barr said.

"GoPro plans to continue to introduce new cameras, develop a seamless content management, editing, and sharing ecosystem, scale up as a media brand, expand into new vertical markets, grow internationally, and expand its current presence in retail channels," IDC's Chute wrote in a recent research report.

While the company is in a quiet period leading up to its initial public offering, it appears to be on a hiring spree, seeking media producers, software developers, content distributors and sales representatives in China, Germany and Spain.

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GoPro's Nasdaq IPO is scheduled to price Wednesday night for Thursday trading under the ticker symbol GPRO.

Watch: Pisani tests GoPro on NYSE floor

The point-of-view camcorder market expected to grow 67 percent in 2014 and continue double-digit growth at least through 2018, according to IDC.

—By CNBC's Althea Chang.

Nicholas Woodman, GoPro founder and CEO, will appear on "Squawk Box" on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET.