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Tuesday 20 August 2013

Beats by Dre looking to end HTC partnership

It has been reported in the Wall Street Journal today that Beats Electronics LLC are hoping to buy back shares from HTC, who currently own a 25% stake in the company. The company are known for their popular ‘Beats by Dr Dre’ headphones, as well as the in-built equalizer software featured on HTC’s smartphones in recent years. Beats have seen ‘explosive’ growth in sales over the past year, with revenue of $1 billion compared with $200 million in 2010.

Beats was co-founded by music industry veteran Jimmy Iovine (who is also CEO) and rapper/producer Andre Young (better known as Dr Dre), who together own 75% of the Beats Electronics. Just two years ago the pair sold a 50.1% stake in the company to HTC, before buying back 25% a year later for half the price.

After HTC gained a share in beats they began to incorporate its audio software into its smartphones, as well as bundling some models with Beats earphones. HTC further embedded their relationship with Beats by giving the company a $225 million loan last year.

Unfortunately for HTC, the intervening years have not proven fruitful for the company, with their share price having dropped by 90% since April 2011. HTC have failed to compete effectively with other smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung and Apple, despite being in second place in the market several years ago behind the iPhone manufacturers.

Earlier this year the company launched their new flagship phone, the HTC One, to rave reviews in the technology community. However, despite decent sales it has continued to under perform next to competitors such as Samsung’s Galaxy S 4.

HTC had sought to use the Beats software, headphones and branding to help them corner the youth market. However, differences in strategy have reportedly soured their relationship. Beats are also rumoured to be on the brink of expanding the company’s product line beyond headphones including speakers, car audio systems and even a streaming music service.

I have added a poll (look right) regarding this.  Please vote and also discuss below.

Source - http://thejournalist.ie/technology-2/technology-beats-by-dr-dre-looking-to-end-htc-partnership/

4 comments:

  1. I'm not surprised at this news. Knew it from day 1 as soon as the partnership happened.

    Although HTC aren't as successful as other mobile manufacturers. This is not the reason for the failure.

    It's because no matter which mobile device it is, even if it's Samsung or Apple, some people may not want to treat their phone as their dedicated music player.

    An mp3 player is still the better choice for the reason of the quality of the music and also much longer battery life.

    Phone batteries these days drain quickly.

    I have added a poll regarding (look right) this. Please vote and also discuss here.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yo!
    Add Dre producing MMLP 2 along with Rick Rubin.

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