Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27336863

This deal makes no sense on the face of it. The headphones are popular and the brand is cool but Apple already have a cool brand in music and the headphones are not anything special outside of the marketing. If Apple wanted to move more seriously into the headphone business they could do it without blowing billions on Beats and their image would ensure some traction at least.

Apple will have to keep the brand 'Beats' making it the first time they've sold anything under another brand. It would complicate the rather simple focus Apple have for their products and I don't see the revenue being worth the money they're spending and the additional focus they'll have to spend on this market. I mean seriously, how does Beats help Apple?

The other aspect is Beats' streaming service but surely there are better targets than a fledging streaming service without many users? Spotify is a much more mature service with a bigger user base. Spotify would be a much better fit for Apple, the technology is there, the experience is there and it would instantly give them a platform on Android and Windows Phone. Spotify is the biggest threat to iTunes as well so that's one rival killed off.

The only thing that would make sense here would be if they purchased it to stop either Google, Samsung or Microsoft buying it and using the brand to market their phones ('Beats' Phones + headphones + steaming) and instantly gaining ground on the one area Apple still excels at on mobile devices.


Still Spotify would surely be a better buy.

But then again I am not a Chief Executive of the world's richest company. :p:

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

Beats headphones are a fashion statement, ridiculously overpriced and technologically inferior to Bose and Harmon Kardon which can be purchased for less.

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

Indeed but even if they were technologically advanced it wouldn't be beyond Apple to match it if they so wished, especially with billions at their disposal. Hell, they could buy those firms at a cheaper cost (probably). It seems they want it for the brand but why?

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

Perhaps they have something special going on behind the scenes in their R&D dept that apple wanted to get it's hands on. Unlikely considering the quality of their products to date but there will be a good reason behind it, they aren't going to spend 3.2 billion just for tat.

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

perhaps they need some tax deductibles lol

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

If they actually start making some decent quality headphones, which is something Beats don't generally do at the moment then change might not be a bad thing.

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

I do not own a pair, but have tried various models with various kinds of music. They sounded good playing Hip Hop. Absolutely awful playing anything else. The £70 set of Sennheisers I settled on outclassed all the Beats headphones I tried, some of which were over twice the price.

Even on Hip Hip, the Sennheisers were close in quality to the Beats headphones.

That, combined with the fact that Sennheiser actually make headphones that are *used* in studios, rather than headphones that are merely endorsed by producers and singers persuaded me to buy the Sennheisers. Endorsements can be bought. A good reputation (which Sennheiser headphones have in studio circles) can only be earned.

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

You may not like this but Sennheiser also make some pretty rubbish bargain basement tosh that I'd (literally) rather throw in the bin than use, even as a backup set.

Far more "awful" than even the awfullest of Beats.

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

Agreed gasdfdsaq, they make headphones for all budgets and customers of all ages - certainly my 16 year old son gets through about 3 pairs of earbuds per year! That would be unacceptable if he were buying the top end Sennheiser HD 800 model !

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

My flatmate did resort to buying sets of £5 earbuds because his cat kept eating them. Speaking of which I'm now a bit worried about my Shure studio monitors...

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

bet they go up again once apple buy out is complete

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

Detachable cables are good mitigation given that the jack-end of in-ear phones is usually the first thing to fail, even really expensive ones. I recently had to replace the cables on my UE18 stage ears... replacing the whole unit would have been prohibitive!

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

Sounds like what people used to say about Apple products too.

---------- Post added at 15:23 ---------- Previous post was at 15:22 ----------

Yeah, all my Shures (both over the head and in ear) have detachable cables but that said, a replacement cable for my se535's cost £30-50.

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

totally agree with you and unfortunately people think because they have a big brand backing them then they must be great.

---------- Post added at 07:37 ---------- Previous post was at 07:30 ----------


Yeah I agree with you. Detachable cables and single sided cable are what I go for.

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

That's assuming they are still available. Apple are known for buying successful companies (think Siri, Lala etc), taking some aspect of their technology, then stopping the sale of any products. In the case of Siri, they stopped the App and integrated it with the OS. In the case of Lala, they stopped the whole service and eventually launched iTunes Radio. Beats have a streaming service , together with the licences to stream music from a lot of record companies. Apple may be interested in those licences.

---------- Post added at 10:20 ---------- Previous post was at 10:19 ----------

I don't buy the low end ones. Besides, even if I did, I would not have paid nearly as much as I would on a set of Beats. So, I'd be more inclined to think I'd got what I'd paid for rather than I'd been ripped off..

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

How do they arrive at this figure, seems grossly over valued to me.

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

Confirmed http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27613243

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

Marketing specialists purporting to be manufacturers of premium audio equipment sue marketing specialists purporting to be manufacturers or premium audio equipment. Whatever next?

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

At least Bose make products that receive professional acclaim and are rated highly irrespective of the label on them...

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

I'd had an Apple voucher for ages that I finally cashed in the other day and bought the standard iPhone/iPod earphones.

I'd been using these Sony earphones for ages as they had the full compatibility functional in-line remote and the sound was really good but any vibration or knocks against the cable (such as when I was out on a run) could be heard through the sound.

As the voucher was for 25 and the standard earphones are 24.99 I figured I had nothing to lose and to be honest I can't fault the sound. As I only tend to music from my iPhone when running I'm not all that interested in full frequency reach, just the ability to hear my tunes really well when I'm on the road and they do exactly that.

I can't see Apple widely supplying iPods and iPhones with anything other than these basic units and to be honest I don't see that as much of a bad thing. If people want upper or top-end can they can pay the extra for them - as I'm sure they'll have to when Apple officially launch Beats as their own.

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

Bah.. a while ago we had the misfortune of playing a gig through a Bose L1 system. It was utterly hopeless: so much distortion and mid-range nastiness (once you show it more than an acoustic guitar and an SM58) that I think the engineer left his calculator in the PA stage.

I had to disconnect my gear and run the single SRM450 I took along as a stage monitor.
3000 for a loud, not very good hi-fi system masquerading as a compact PA. iirc Bose tried to sue QSC for trying to produce something better for cheaper.

You cannae change the laws of physics.

..although the 901's are quite decent home speakers, unfortunately you can buy much better for far less which is the case imho with most of their consumer and pro gear. Add a dash of snake-oil and they'll charge what they want.

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

Do they? I thought Bose were viewed as marketing over quality just as much as Beats.

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

I used to think so, but had the opportunity to put Bose against other suppliers in a commercial tender (sound quality, cost, life-cycle value, etc.. ) - this was for 12 x 200 seat lecture theatre and 47x60 seat classrooms.

Bose won, much to my surprise.

I now have at home (paid list price for) Bose SoundDock (lounge/dining room), SoundLink mini (kitchen/garden), and QuietComfort3 Noise Cancelling headphones (rail/air travel).

I like the sound quality, and they will last for decades - value/cost equation.

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

Boy are you lucky. The current generation "basic" Apple headphones are massively improved over those of yesteryear. While they still have their faults, they are probably the first generation of Apple headsets where users like me (and many review sites) would actually consider using at a pinch, instead of throwing straight in the bin upon opening the box. The same can be said for many Android manufacturers as well incidentally. They've only recently evolved from this state of 'utter worthless trash' to 'actually reasonably for average, non-demanding users'

---------- Post added at 22:58 ---------- Previous post was at 22:57 ----------

Can you count the number of professional studios, theaters, venues and stadiums using Beats sound systems?

---------- Post added at 23:01 ---------- Previous post was at 22:58 ----------

Good on you! I've never personally thought that of Bose but then again my first exposure to them wasn't through their consumer entertainment gear. That said the QuietComfort headphones are among the best noise cancelling headphones in the world

Re: Apple to buy Beats for $3.2 Billion
 

Well yeah I know decent sound when I hear it, I worked in radio for several years. They may not be pro level but they do a pretty good job.