Beats are perhaps best known for their presence on HTC handsets. The logo, the chunky headphones and the beefy sound quality plus the clever on-board sound technology on many HTC handsets won them plenty of fans, but sadly HTC and Beats went their separate ways.
According to multiple sources, including the Financial Times, Apple is to purchase Beats for $3.2 billion. It’s small change for Apple, who have some $150 billion in cash washing about in their account. It comes just months after HTC off-loaded their remaining shares in Beats, as the handset manufacturer basically needed a cash injection.
Created by Dr. Dre (don’t worry, he’s not a real doctor) and Jimmy Iovine, the deal could be rubber-stamped next week ..
Apple will acquire Beats’ streaming music service, which launched this year, and its audio equipment business, which includes its brand of headphones and audio equipment. The Beats management team will report to Mr Cook, said people familiar with the deal. Apple and Beats declined to comment.
The purchase comes in the face of declining iTunes music sales, and is seen as a precursor to a refresh of the service along with new services such as an on-demand streaming music service (like Spotify). Beats Music, a streaming music service, is already available for a monthly charge, and Apple could be looking to tap into this.