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Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

nytimes.com

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Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#211

Post by eyeareque »

gareim wrote: post #25

Apple redefined the mp3 player market, the ultraportable laptop market, the smartphone market, the tablet market, and now they're buying a company that reinvented the higher-end headphone market. Is it smart of a brand that has traditionally created their own iconic images to buy another cultural icon for $3 billion? I don't think so. Maybe this gets used a lot, but would Steve Jobs have done this? Or would he have c…

> ... but would Steve Jobs have done this?

I wonder if Steve would have backed out of the deal because of the video that was posted online prior to the announcement.

Something tells me that Steve wouldn't have done the deal to begin with though.

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#212

Post by codr »

smegel wrote: post #208
callmeed wrote: post #198

Honest question: is there a statute of limitations on what the tech world will tolerate with regards to misogynistic behavior (or bad behavior in general)? Or do people just pick and choose what they want to fight? I ask because everyone rallied behind RadiumOne's CEO being canned after he beat up his girlfriend [0]. Similar with the Mozilla CEO (granted, the offense was different ... but it's interesting to point ou…

Sad this is the top comment in this page. Is feminism really the most important issue for a hacker community?

I would say equal rights should be at the top of the list, yes.

Even for a special "hacker community".

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#213

Post by SDGT »

redthrowaway wrote: post #78
SDGT wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> reinvented the higher-end headphone market. Rebranded mid-range electronics with pop star endorsements and hype. Do people really consider Beats to be high end?

A Lexus is a re-branded Toyota; it's still high-end.

Oh come now, that's a bit ridiculous. Interiors are upgraded, accessories are upgraded, often the suspension is upped as well. Outside of that, many of the Lexus models have completely redone power trains (F line). The IS line is on a completely separate platform from whatever the equivalent vanilla toyota would be.

I would have gone with something like Ford and Lincoln, where they really are almost completely rebadged.

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#214

Post by JetSpiegel »

hackinthebochs wrote: post #184
sz4kerto wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> reinvented the higher-end headphone marke There's zero high-endness about Beats headphones. They're all right (at least if they were priced around 30% of their current price), but really, they don't sound particularly good.

High end is all about perception as indicated by price. Technical quality means almost nil. But even on technical quality Beats bring something new to the table. They have a built in amp for christ's sake. They lowered the bar for amped audio to something the masses would use. It is a typical story of reducing friction/barrier to entry and reaping rewards. Every conversation I see about beats speaks of them as garbag…

> High end is all about perception as indicated by price. Technical quality means almost nil.

Sure, perfect match for Apple.

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#215

Post by theroach »

smackfu wrote: post #84
jotm wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really true - Sony and Sennheiser (as well as AKG and other less known companies) had the market covered already.

I think the idea is that Beats expanded the market for $200-400 headphones. Yes, Sony sold headphones in that range, but they didn't sell them to every high school student who wanted to look cool.

True, but at one stage, Sony almost cornered the market for a specific pair of DJing headphones...until everyone realised they actually weren't too good, but still 'wanted to look cool'.

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#216

Post by Eric_WVGG »

imjk wrote: post #147
gareim wrote: post #25

Apple redefined the mp3 player market, the ultraportable laptop market, the smartphone market, the tablet market, and now they're buying a company that reinvented the higher-end headphone market. Is it smart of a brand that has traditionally created their own iconic images to buy another cultural icon for $3 billion? I don't think so. Maybe this gets used a lot, but would Steve Jobs have done this? Or would he have c…

The Beats deal comes down to two things: 1) The "premium mobile audio" market is going to be the next huge market where Apple and Samsung face-off. It's no coincidence that Samsung announced their new line of premium headphones just a week before the Apple-Beats rumors began: http://www.samsung.com/uk/news/local/samsung-launches-level-... 2)Despite the tech communities denial, Apple and Beats are very much in sync. B…

I agree but I think there’s a third reason. This Jimmy Iovine guy is no joke, he’s like the Johnny Ive of music and Hollywood, and the ability to work out deals with media companies is priceless.

http://www.dailydot.com/technology/apple-beats-jimmy-iovine-...

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#217

Post by callmeed »

smegel wrote: post #208
callmeed wrote: post #198

Honest question: is there a statute of limitations on what the tech world will tolerate with regards to misogynistic behavior (or bad behavior in general)? Or do people just pick and choose what they want to fight? I ask because everyone rallied behind RadiumOne's CEO being canned after he beat up his girlfriend [0]. Similar with the Mozilla CEO (granted, the offense was different ... but it's interesting to point ou…

Sad this is the top comment in this page. Is feminism really the most important issue for a hacker community?

Honestly, it was the only interesting thing I could think of with regards to this news story and it's something I've pondered since the Apple/Beats rumor started. It was an honest question and I just wanted some smart replies–not the top spot.

I'm sorry I made you sad

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#218

Post by lnanek2 »

nostromo wrote: post #93
abalone wrote: post #70

The most interesting reveal from Tim Cook's quote is that he only mentions the music service and the talent, not the headphones. That's super interesting. It basically means Apple looked at this like a typical Apple aquihire / component technology purchase (of the service), that just happened to have a multi-billion dollar profitable accessories business attached to it. That makes it a very unique kind of deal.

"Unique" is one way of putting it. Another is "messy." If they wanted the headphones or the talent or the streaming service, they could have bought any one individually, or purchased a number of competing services that are better in each of those spaces. The fact that everyone is so confounded by this acquisition makes me think that Apple purchased something non-public.

I can't think of a single headphone business that is anywhere near Beats. The headphones are crap, they used to be relabeled Monster headphones, for example. It doesn't matter. The brand is successful. Coco-Cola is just sugar water, it's the brand that makes the money. Same here. There aren't other equivalent brands they could purchase.

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#219

Post by zorpner »

callmeed wrote: post #198

Honest question: is there a statute of limitations on what the tech world will tolerate with regards to misogynistic behavior (or bad behavior in general)? Or do people just pick and choose what they want to fight? I ask because everyone rallied behind RadiumOne's CEO being canned after he beat up his girlfriend [0]. Similar with the Mozilla CEO (granted, the offense was different ... but it's interesting to point ou…

There no "the tech world", there's just people who are, indeed, choosing what they do and do not want to fight about. If you feel so strongly about this, get people involved, get a Twitter campaign or boycott going, and just like in every other such situation, if enough people make noise then you may or may not get results. Much like open source, if you see a problem and do nothing, that's on you, not the community.

There's no inherent need for balance (like you seem to want: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7623043 ) in people exercising their free speech. If it bothers you, do something about it.

Re: Apple Confirms Its $3 Billion Deal for Beats Electronics

#220

Post by gutnor »

nostromo wrote: post #138
achompas wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't believe people are actually confounded by this acquisition. The headphones are wildly profitable and the Beats brand is incredibly strong. This deal is easily justifiable.

Just grabbing some headlines from Google News: http://www.cnet.com/news/why-does-apple-want-beats-no-one-re... > analysts are puzzled by the choice http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-reaction... > We are struggling to see the rationale behind this move http://business.financialpost.com/2014/05/12/apple-inc-beats... > It’s a head scratcher http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27336863 > This is really puz…

Seems like those days, if they haven't received press release and a press package the only thing analyst can say is that they are puzzled.

Thankfully in a few weeks it will be time for the annual batch of rumour about the next iPhone. That has been almost a year since the last article predicting the 5in iPhone and the iWatch.

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