Apple Close to Buying Beats Electronics for $3.2 Billion

When Steve passed(RIP), Apple took a large hit to their product appeal (which I don't believe has yet been fully realized) because while Apple can still make high quality products, they don't have Steve Jobs, the guru of computer style, there to give his stamp of approval that not only is this the high quality product you've come to expect from Apple but it is also designed for use by humans and "cool".

Next, Apple brought its tastes/decisions into question with the changes to the iPhone design and iOS, the introduction of the iPad mini... a lot of things that beg the question, "Would Steve have really gone for this?"

Enter Beats by Dre, another brand that seems to have its value pegged to the guy who appears to be giving final approval to the products, so much so that he put his name is on all of his products. It has been confirmed that Beats makes great products, so people now trust the brand. They can go into the store and pick up the newest whatever by Beats and can rest assured that it's going to be not only very high quality audio, but it also has Dre's signature that the component ain't nuthin' but a G thang.

Like you said, Beats has profits. There is no real reason for them to want to sell except that they want to get out while they're in a strong position. My guess would be that Dre feels that he's done enough good work and he wants to get out for a boat-load of money so he can start another venture or focus on making music.

There's no real reason for Dre to stay with Beats if its acquired unless it's part of the deal, but if that was the case one would again wonder why the good doctor would be selling the company in the first place. But for Dre, even if he was to retire from the audio component game, his claim to fame would remain untarnished for producing nothing but ultra high quality products. I would imagine the stuff that was produced under him could become collectors items like vintage Nike sneakers. Without him at the head, I see the Beats profits going way down.

It's also funny you bring up the PC/Apple grudge match as I see this acquisition as a deliberate play by Apple against its PC/Android rivals.

Beats by Dre is/was a major feature for companies like HP(computer) and HTC(android). Beats bought out HTC's share of the company to end their partnership, but I'm sure Apple wants to include Beats to their feature list for iPhone and iPad. And HP is one of Apple's most direct competitors on the PC market. Beats is something that HP had that Apple didn't, it was one feature that could be better than Apple's comparative feature for all people knew.

Well that's probably enough ranting so I'm just going to cut myself off. It's 9AM now, must work.

Lala's label licenses didn't transfer if the company was bought.

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.

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.