With multiple sources saying that Apple’s acquisition of Beats is in the final stages, everyone is trying to figure out what Apple has to gain from the deal. Earlier, we posted some guesses about what the acquisition could be for, but nobody really knows for certain yet.
Across the Internet, the news has divided pundits and commentators alike. Some people like the idea of incorporating the Beats brand, others despite it for their poor headphone quality. Beats Music seems like the obvious play for Apple here, but with the likelihood that the content deals will not transfer in the acquisition, everything is still up in the air.
We want to know what you think. Do you like Apple’s decision to buy Beats? What value does Apple see in the company and brand? Answer the poll and leave a comment below to explain your decision.
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Just want to point out the casual racism of all this.
Are you psychotic?
This site is so full of Leftists.
OK – Go for it, because I sure don’t see it.
Don’t care….just wish they would come and buy my architectural home design business. http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=184462409&trk=tab_pro
None of the above. Like most observers I don’t understand why they’d do this, but it’s their money and we’ll see if it makes sense down the road.
There should be another option for “I don’t know yet. We’ll have to wait and see.”
I really feel it fits Apple to buy Beats. One, now they have an Android and iOS streaming platform so don’t expect an iTunes Radio or iTunes for Android now. Two the designs of beats headphones even if they aren’t greatest quality sound headphone or earpiece, fit the Apple theme and design quality. I can bet if you go out on the street and take a pair of beats already up to random people and if they don’t know about beats they’d easily probably guess it would look like something Apple would have in their product line. Plus now it forces some Android users to pay Apple some of their money now, through Beats audio and when they buy Beats headphones now.
Beats, together with Bose and Bang&Olufsen deliver the worst performance/price ratio when it comes to quality audio. Apple already has great DACs and preamps built into Macs and iDevices, and great built in speakers into devices which have very limited internal space. I don’t see how Apple needs Beats to improve any of that. We don’t want Beats audio on/off toggles or Beats branding.
I hope it’s (some aspects of) the Beats services which are of interest to Apple. But then 3.2B seems like a lot of money for those services.
Bad polling options.
So, uh, where has it been confirmed anywhere? Seems useless to have a poll about something that hasn’t happened.
Click bait…
If they want a streaming service for some additional cash they can go after Spotify.
Couldn’t vote YES because what followed YES makes absolutely no sense. Beats has its own niche marketing scheme, which has done nothing but prevent them from selling even more very expensive yet high quality headphones.
So no, the Beats “culture” and by that you meant marketing scheme, does not fit Apple at all. Except in the way that they are their own entity that tried to do it all, and attracted some people with some attractive stuff.
Apple is buying them out to cancel out one more possibly popular music streaming service, and hopefully take some cues from for their future music streaming efforts…and also, HOPEFULLY, because Apple has finally decided to care about producing decent quality Headphones.
They can’t include expensive earbuds for free, but they can do a better job of branding and marketing high quality headphones….perhaps (and HOPEFULLY!) to coincide with the addition of 24 bit 96Hz music on the iTunes Store.
The Beats aren’t particularly good at all. Read reviews. You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, like normal.
I wonder if they are trying to target HTC in any way by doing this. Not saying the decision would be fully to damage them but it still hurts them.
Wish Apple had bought Waze for a third of the Beats price…
No. Beats headphones are well-marketed cr@p. Apple should have used the money to buy their marketing firm, or use the money to recruit and hire talent. People say they are buying talent. The talent has to be paid, for those that remain, so talent cost remain above and beyond the $3.2B. Apple is buying a subscription service. Why do they need it? Why is iTunes and iTunes Radio needing the addition of Beats streaming? Why couldn’t Apple’s iTunes talent couldn’t do this on their own. Why pay $3.2B? It seems overpriced considering Beats valuation last year.
Beats is a garbage brand. Yes the music service has gotten some praise but overall the money is going towards buying the brand, and it’s products. The physical product is so ridiculously lacking. Cheap, inexpensive products being sold for double that of premium grade products from Sennheiser and the like. All because they have more bass.. And are targeted at people who like music because it’s popular.
From my personal experience the products are physically shoddy. Forgetting sound quality for a moment (because i don’t even want to talk about the 20-20k frequency response across the entire range) They fall apart, don’t last, and aesthetically I can’t stand them. All of these opinions are founded from a range of things. I have an extremely diverse taste in music, and this brand seems so utterly focussed on rap and hip hop.. (understandable from their roots) that I cannot see how Apple is going to benefit from the purchase. The products are unique in the fact that they exist in the sole purpose that they are designed for. But technically the company offers nothing but a brand. Apple buys technologies companies all the time, but brand names? Names that already have a profile and a path? I dunno.. I’m ranting ecause i don’t like their headphones. I understand that they have a place in the market.. And many people see value in them (outside of their fashionability) but I disagree with Apple’s alignment with the brand. I would rather Apple buy a new audio technlogoies company and incorporate their technology and design team into Apple.
I can’t see a future where Apple make beats headphones.. OR where Beats headphones don’t exist. It’s very strange.
I like it, the infrastructure that Beats has established will be very useful. I expect them to discontinue the headphones immediately, as they are absolute trash.
So beats becomes exclusive to apple now? No more android or windows phone apps?
Great.. we’ve a poll on a rumor.. as if it’s fact..
too expensive – poor sound quality not even close to a good deal, but somehow this will result in Apple lawyers filing a lawsuit against Google, Samsung, Sony or Bose for patent about placing speakers in a plastic or metallic band that is held in place with tension while streaming music via Bluetooth.
No. Beats seams like a company with no substance. I mean they paid the monster bros. for their design so I’m sure dre don’t know shit about building or designing electronics and I think the beats success comes more from a 30 year rap/producer career than from producing an amazing product. If I remember right the only reason they sold was cuz it was implied that dre needed something above and beyond to make all those hits with in the studio and this is what he came up with. So now u gotta wonder did dre and lovine take all that money and go out hire some quality designers? Well since today’s beats headphones
Don’t look much different than original monsters version…I’d say no. Did they go out and hire some qoulity engineers to innovate ? We’ll if u read their product reviews it’s sounds like they did the opposite and just figured out a way to make them for cheaper. So the company is running off a 6 year old design that was bought from another electronics equipment maker and has been watered
Down for mass production. Will the customers come back after the “I tried them once” or will they go for a better value on their second purchase? My guess is their will not be a second purchase cuz this ugly ass product category all but died 25 years for a reason! And it will die again… For that same reason. So in the long term I think beats customers will dwindle back down to just dre”s fan base and if apple takes over it won’t even have that. It’s a red flag to me when the owner of an electronics company(lovine) is asked about the value in the inflated price of its products and instead of talking materials or R&D… He’s says “we patent a special sound signature”. translation “we had dre play with an equalizer for 5 minutes till he found a setting he liked” . So no I dont think apple should buy them. Now google on the other hand…
This has to be a joke! Almost nobody thinks this makes sense and the ones who try to rationalize it still can’t find anywhere near 3 billion in value. If it walks like a duck… I’m wondering was beats shopping for a buyer maybe or did apple supposedly get up one day and say “we should buy beats audio no matter what the cost
Pure waste of my money…