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Apple Close to Buying Beats Electronics for $3.2 Billion
- keypusher 13y agoApple getting into the headphone market makes sense, they certainly sell a lot of earbuds with their iPods and Iphones. And I could definitely see a more feature packed set of quality headphones being a great idea, there's enough extra space in a pair of studio monitors to cram some electronics. But "Beats By Dre"? These headphones are complete garbage, they are a $25 pair of headphones with the name "Dre" on them and a $150 pricetag. If Apply wants to make a splashy aquisition they should buy Sennheiser, Audio-Technica, Shure or something similar. High quality products with years of audio experience and manufacturing capability.
- raincheck 13y agoHow many people remember that Beats was created by the same folks who brought us Monster cables? Only they got taken to the cleaners by the current management. This is the company Apple is (apparently) buying for $3.2B. It doesn't seem like a good cultural or strategic fit in any way. http://gizmodo.com/5981823/beat-by-dre-the-inside-story-of-how-monster-lost-the-world http://gizmodo.com/5981823/beat-by-dre-the-inside-story-of-h... Also, was it coincidence that Katie Cotton announced her retirement yesterday? I can't imagine what the press release will say...
- StudyAnimal 13y agoMan Forbes is an annoying site, I try to scroll down to the comments, and before the comments load it jumps to another story. But anyway, its a bad idea. The sort of people that care about quality know that beats are absolute shit. They get mocked relentlessly. Apple doesn't want to be associated with that.
- beltex 13y agoBeats CEO Jimmy Iovine in Talks to Join Apple as 'Special Adviser' http://www.macrumors.com/2014/05/08/beats-jimmy-iovine-join-apple/ http://www.macrumors.com/2014/05/08/beats-jimmy-iovine-join-...
- rhgraysonii 13y agoJimmy Iovine is one ruthless bastard. I'm not sure how I'd feel about him joining Apple.
- pptr1 13y agoI am not really sure why they want to buy Beat for that price. What is the strategic advantage in buying Beats?
- uncleruckus 13y agoFor BeatPods by Dre
- notatoad 13y agoit probably has more to do with Beats Audio (and by extension, MOG) than with headphone technology. And the Beats brand has a fair amount of value, although i don't think apple really needs that.
- wyager 13y agoWell, Apple already has plenty of experience building mediocre headphones. The difference is that Apple only charges $30!
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- brigade 13y agoWithin the form factor constraints of earbuds and IEMs, you're not likely to find better engineering. http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/lauding-jobs-least-loved-product-basic-apple-ear-bud http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/lauding-jobs-least-love... http://seriousaudioblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/hall-of-fame-apple-in-ear-monitor-addiem.html http://seriousaudioblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/hall-of-fame-ap...
- wyager 13y ago>Within the form factor constraints of earbuds and IEMs, you're not likely to find better engineering. Not quite. It's easy to find better engineering in the IEM form factor. It's hard to find better engineering in the earbud form factor, because no one bothers trying to make earbuds sound good. It's very hard to make an open device that small sound good.
- 2muchcoffeeman 13y agoThanks for posting those links. I don't think many people have actually compared the Apple ear buds and canalphones to anything. They are really good value for money, especially if you are after an inline remote. It's difficult to do better without spending more money.
- wyager 13y ago>It's difficult to do better without spending more money. http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Image-S4A-In-Ear-Headphones/dp/B008VHHYLW/ http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Image-S4A-In-Ear-Headphones/dp... Just a little more money. About $15 more, significantly higher quality.
- moeedm 13y agoIf true, they're really buying Jimmy Lovine.
- jonah 13y agoWell, this one's not a technical acquisition.
- cordite 13y agoI'm guessing that HP won't be having those weird commercials about having beats in them anymore.
- kevando 13y agoWWSJD
- UnoriginalGuy 13y agoEssentially just a brand and distribution channels for $3.2B (if true). That's quite a hefty price tag for a company which has no unique technology or USP. I wonder if Apple plans to slap those farcical Beats stickers onto Macbooks and screw up the audio balance in order to "improve" the listening experience (and by "improve" I mean heavily degrade, see HTC's phones). I won a pair of Beats headphones in a competition. Worth £130 (per Amazon, £200 retail) and in a blind test I prefered my £55 Sony ones. They just sound better, simple as that...
- zecho 13y agoJimmy Iovine likely got stellar deals with music labels for Beats' streaming service. This is more likely a play for streaming audio than it is for mediocre but well-hyped headphones, which is a lateral move for Apple anyway.
- WizKid 13y agoQuestion is if Beats have the same deal as Lala did: http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/07/02/streaming-itunes/ http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/07/02/streaming-itunes/ Lala's label licenses didn't transfer if the company was bought.
- IBM 13y agoUnlike most Silicon Valley acquisitions, Beats has profits. They sell high-margin headphones with 60% market share of the over-$100 headphone market. Apple is going to be getting into wearables, and this is the original wearable. They'll probably continue to run the unit separately because the brand is too valuable to just throw away. Audiophiles can pan the headphones as much as they want, it won't be any different from when PC geeks proclaimed they could build a PC with better parts for less without paying the "Apple tax". They aren't relevant. And if the margins are as high as some claim, Apple would have all the flexibility to improve the Beats line with better materials and construction. http://www.fastcompany.com/3015051/major-beats-beats-electronics-may-be-on-track-to-hit-14b-in-2013-revenue http://www.fastcompany.com/3015051/major-beats-beats-electro...
- coreymgilmore 13y agoApple spending money because it can? I would think Apple has plenty of knowledge in the music world and could hire some talented personnel instead of buying an entire company. Beats has value, but I'm not sure if its $3.2B. Their products are okay but not anything segment-leading. Kind of like the Oculus buy by FB, they have the money...spend it!
- abalone 13y agoSee previous thread here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7718223 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7718223
- amolsarva 13y agoIf this happens my respect for apple falls
- jws 13y agoWhere could Apple go with headphones? Consider the interest in watches as a more accessible control for iOS devices in pockets or purses. • iOS control integration with buttons on the cans. • Touch based rotary controls for volume and scrubbing. • Integrate a short range Kinect style scanner in the front of a can. Now you can control things with hand gestures in front of your body. Don't get your hopes up, but it's worth visioning a little. There is a demographic that wears headphones. I'm not able to come up with an information display angle for headphones, but input is good.
- protomyth 13y agoBeats is worth more than AMD? This is sad.
- mm0 13y agomargins.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- benhamner 13y agoIf this is true, who benefits from leaking it & in what way do they benefit?
- blackjack48 13y agoI feel like Misfit would have been a better "wearables" acquisition.
- pbreit 13y agoI don't see how this makes sense. The headphone business is small. There's no way any favorable music deals would be transferable to Apple. Tim Cook going to Jimmy for creative advice would piss off employees. I don't believe Beats has much IP. Anyone have ideas here?