Apple Acquiring Beats Audio For 3.2 Billion

Beats Audio founder Dr. Dre must be pretty happy how things are turning out for Beats Audio. Said to have done 1.4 Billion in sales in 2013 and dominating the headphone market the company is getting finalized to be sold to Apple. The acquisition which could be announced as early as next week would have a funny irony to it as the whole Beats Audio concept was cooked up by Dr. Dre and jimmy Lovine because of how bad the Apple headsets were that are included with their devices. Beats Audio actually started in 2008 and sold headphones at $300.00 for “as close to the sound I hear in the studio as possible." said Lovine.

Beats in 2011 sold half of the company to HTC for $300 million who introduced it on it’s hardware as well. Beats must not have liked the arrangement because in 2013 they bought back the shares from HTC for $265 million and got $500 million from investors at Carlyle Group.

Beats Audio is said to only have $14.00 cost into the headphones it sells for $200.00 so this is just the sort of profit center Apple likes to look at. It also maintains a high end perception that will compliment Apple’s perception with customers as well. It will be a home run for Apple and I think the two will be a MUCH better fit that struggling HTC. Hopefully we will see better hardware on the Apple iPhone and iPad boxes but I highly doubt it.

While some purists may balk at buying anything owned by Apple and unwilling to become “iSheep”, at the end of the day it is impossible to argue Apple’s commitment to quality and their excellence in hardware. You may not like the ecosystem with iOS and the whole “iSheep” culture, but at the end of the day I look for great quality beats audio to go forward.