Dive Brief:
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Apple Inc. and Beats Electronics LLC are reportedly close to a $3.2 billion deal for Apple to acquire the headphone retailer and streaming music company, in what would be the computer retailer’s biggest purchase ever.
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Santa Monica, CA-based Beats Electronics was founded in 2008 by music business executive Jimmy Iovine and hip-hop producer-artist Dr. Dre in response to what they considered to be Apple’s sub-par headphones.
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The company this year also launched Beats Music, a subscription streaming music that may be especially attractive to Apple.
Dive Insight:
Although Dr. Dre’s headphones have never exactly won big accolades from true audiophiles, they have become popular among people who agree with the hip hop artist that the iconic white earbuds shipping with Apple iPhones and iPods simply don’t cut it.
But the shiny thing that may have caught Apple’s attention (and its $3.2 billion) may be the headphone company’s Beats Music, which is poised to out-do 10-year-old iTunes in the relatively new arena of subscription streaming services. With some saying digital downloads are giving way to such services, Apple may have just bought its way closer to the head of the line.
